House Rules
by Ktkat9
Summary: Yami decided to stick around after the ceremonial duel, but the modern world is not exactly like his time. While there may not be any force trying to take over the world, normal life still has a way of proving challenging. Like many of their exploits, it all started with Joey. And now Yami has started a list of what NOT to do in the Motou house. Latest update: Cookies.
1. Do NOT give Yugi coffee

So, this is something that I have wanted to do for a while now, but as I have a few other stories out that I still need to finish, this will be added to whenever I have writers block. As always, please review!

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Ever since he had made his decision to remain in the world of the living, as a solid and corporeal being, no less, Yami had been introduced to many different and interesting things. Almost everything was new to him, and, as he had only ever been able to experience it for the short periods of time that he had been in control of Yugi's body, even the simplest things managed to shock him.

For instance, he had been raised in a desert. Where he lived now, Japan, was an island. The climate was also very different, and there had been no air conditioning or heating back in his time. Camels and horses were no longer used as transportation. Now, bicycles and cars had replaced them. The pyramids had taken decades and thousands of people to build, but skyscrapers could be erected in less than a year.

Out of everything now associated with the modern world, one of the things that had surprised him the most had been the bitter tasting, unappetizing-looking drink that changed ones mood. His friends had laughed at his expression when he'd tried a sip of Tristan's. They had said that it was called 'coffee', and that it was typically drank in the mornings to help a person to become more energized for the rest of the day. He had seen his friends occasionally drink some on their adventures, heard them complain about having had none during some early morning save-the-world escapades, but had never tried it himself. Nor, for that matter, had he ever seen his Aibou touch the foul tasting liquid. Until, one day, Joey decided to have some fun.

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"Yug', you should have gotten to bed earlier if you knew you were going to have to run the shop today. You look dead on your feet." Joey joked lightly, watching his little pal rest his head on his folded arms on the counter. They were lucky that it was still too early for many customers, but the few that they had gotten had left slightly annoyed for having to wait while the cashier tried to figure out how to do simple math using his sleep-fogged brain.

"Mm, just give me a minute." The tired teen muttered, not even looking up.

"Oh? So you can go back to sleep and leave me alone here to deal with the shop?"

"No. So I can think of a comeback. M' too tired to argue."

Joey laughed and brought the coffee he'd purchased on the way over to his lips, before a great idea struck him. "Here, Yug'. Drink this."

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"I'm home!" Yami called, entering through the back door that lead right to the house part of the building, so that the family didn't have to go through the shop just to enter their house. He set the bags of groceries on the table and began to put them away, not very concerned about the lack of response to his greeting. He had been informed that Grandpa would be leaving the house at some point, which meant that Yugi would be managing Kame Game while he was gone. He was, however, surprised when he turned back around from putting the refrigerated groceries away to see that all of the dry storage groceries had been put in the pantry.

"What the heck?" he looked around, but couldn't see anyone else in the room with him. "Hello?" he called, peering into the living room. Again, nobody. Shaking his head and deciding that he must have put them away and then forgotten, he headed up to the room that he and his light shared, wanting to put his coat away before going down to say hi and see how the small teen was faring after his online game night. Yami had woken up that morning to find Yugi just then getting to sleep, realizing belatedly what time it was.

He put his jacket, another new invention that was now necessary to the once teen pharaoh, on a hanger and hung it in the closet. Suddenly, before he could turn around, he felt a pair of hands shove him in. The door shut before he could get a glimpse of the perpetrator, but the only person who was in the house at the moment, to the extent of his knowledge, was Yugi. A little annoyed, but still a bit amused at the childish prank, Yami opened the door and exited the room, intent on finding his partner.

"Yugi?" he called.

All of the sudden, a fit of laughter came from the stairwell leading down to the shop. "Hey, Joey!" a familiar voice shouted excitedly. "Yami just came out of the closet!"

He closed his eyes and shook his head, following the sounds of giggling down to what was _supposed_ to be a place of business. Thankfully, there were no customers present at the moment, but Joey was standing behind the counter, trying to hide the guilty expression on his face, while unable to control his laughter. Yugi, on the other hand was running around, more hyper than Yami had ever seen him. Certainly more hyper than he had expected the modern teen to be after having stayed up the entirety of the night before.

"Alright. What's going on?" he asked, eyeing the both of them. Yugi attempted to stand still, but just ended up jittering and settled on hopping from foot to foot. Joey finally raised his hand, managing to look somewhat ashamed.

"My fault. Yugi was falling asleep, and I kinda, sorta, might have given him my coffee. I forgot he usually doesn't drink it, so his tolerance isn't as good as mine. I'm used to triple shots."

Yami closed his eyes and sighed. Between the world needing saving and his crazy friends, he could never find any peace. But, he supposed, he had spent three millennia with nothing but peace. _And_ he had given his eternal rest up just to remain with them. He could deal. Chuckling and shaking his head, Yami turned all of his attention to the blonde duelist. "Okay. You're used to it? You fix it." And with that, he returned to the upstairs to begin lunch, mentally storing Joey's shocked, and slightly betrayed, face in the back of his memory. _Oh_ , yeah. He could deal. He just didn't want to.

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"Yugi." Yami tried again, shaking his Aibou's shoulder, to no avail. "Yugi, wake up. You should at least get to bed before falling asleep." Still nothing. The teen was splayed out on the couch in what Grandpa had called a 'caffeine crash'. Sighing and slipping his arms under Yugi's shoulders and knees, he lifted him and got him into his bed, making sure he was snugly tucked in, before heading back down to the kitchen. Rummaging around in the junk drawer for a minute, he managed to locate a sheet of paper and a pen. He wrote as quickly and legibly as he could, his Japanese still wasn't perfect, and then searched a little deeper into the drawer. Upon finding the tape, he smiled to himself and attached it to the door, effectively making sure that everyone could see it.

House Rules: The Shadow Realm awaits those who don't heed this last warning.

Do NOT give Yugi coffee.

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So, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Want to see more? The review button is right there. And remember; The Shadow Realm awaits those who do not review. ;3


	2. Joey can't pretend to be Yugi

Growing up in a place of business, Yugi had been made witness to many strange sights. Some were scary, like the time that old, homeless man had found his way into their living room and decided to take a nap on their couch. Some were amusing, like when the pizza delivery boy had been lost and stopped in for directions, only to forget that he had deliveries to make when he found that he'd walked into a game store. And some, like the one he was watching unfold in front of him now, just caused him a headache.

"Y'know, Yami," he started, catching the other's attention, "there _are_ times when I wonder why I put so much faith in my friends."

"He means well-," Yami tried, but was cut off by the shop phone ringing. The two had been left on their own to man the store while Grandpa was out running errands. That was his excuse to avoid sorting the new shipment they were getting in today. It was just pure luck (and whether that luck was good or bad was yet to be determined) that Joey had stopped by to hang out and offered to help out. While the millennia-separated twins were in the back sorting and going through everything, Joey was out front 'helping' the customers. He really was trying; he just tended to get distracted a lot.

"Hello, this is your friendly, neighborhood game shop, what can I do for you? . . .Oh, hey, Tea. . . Um, yeah. This is Yugi. I, uh, just, think I'm coming down with something."

In the backroom, Yugi's eyes grew wide. He wouldn't. Through the open door, he could see Joey turn and smirk at him, a playful glint in his eye. He would. That rat would.

"Yeah . . . we should probably go out some other time, like _maybe on a date_ ," he grinned as he saw Yugi's face turn bright red in embarrassment, and his buddy ran for him, dead set on getting that phone.

"Yugi, please don't kill him. I just managed to get the floor clean." Was Yami's oh-so-helpful contribution to the scene. He tried to ignore the sounds of the two wrestling for the phone and finish his job.

"Give me that thing!" Yugi growled and jumped for the phone, only to find himself being held at arms length by one of Joey's much longer arms. "Joey!"

"Yes Tea, like to the movies, or maybe a long walk on the beach . . . of course this is Yugi . . ."

" _Is not! Is not!"_ Yugi tried to shout into the phone, but was still being held back by his taller friend.

"Oh, and maybe after we could come back to my house-," By this point, Yugi had stepped back, only to launch himself as hard as he could at the blonde, knocking him off the stool and to the floor. Quickly, he scrambled for the phone, fending off Joey's attempts to wrestle it back.

"Tea, that was Joey."

The sounds of her laughter filled his ear. "I'm aware. You don't have a Brooklyn accent, Yugi." He sighed as she kept giggling. "Although, do you think you can do something for me? Tell him that my phone has a record button, and I will gladly replay that little conversation for his sister next time she's in town if he cares to finish that last comment."

"Will do, Tea. And, um, about . . ."

She stopped laughing, and Joey allowed him to sit up, a bit worried that he'd taken the joke too far this time. "Yugi, you are like my little brother. I don't really know if you feel the same about me, but I don't think I could ever date you and have it not feel weird. I'm sorry."

"Oh, no. Don't be. I . . . I actually feel the same way. I just . . ."

"Yeah. So, this phone call never happened?"

"Deal. "

"I'll let you go so you can take care of Joey."

"Bye. And sorry again."

Joey had faced villains bent everything from taking over the world, to destroying it, to just killing him and his friends. He had never been so scared, however, as he was when Yugi turned to glare at him. His buddy had apparently been taking lessons from the teenage pharaoh in the back room.

"Wheeler."

"Yugi?" Keeping his expression blank, Yugi stood, making himself taller than the blonde who was still seated on the floor. "Buddy?" he tried, to no avail. "Pal?"

"Run."

And he did. With the small duelist, surprisingly, keeping up with him. They bolted out of the store, right past the poor, confused, and slightly frightened customer who had been witness the whole thing. Yugi and Joey didn't see her, though. They just kept going down the block, barely managing to dodge around a shocked Grandpa making his way back with groceries.

"Um, excuse me?" The customer leaned over the counter, hoping that that wasn't the _only_ cashier that had just run off, looking about to commit murder.

Yami walked up, shaking his head at his friends' antics. "I can help you. Sorry for the trouble."

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By the time Yugi finally made it back home, there was a new addition to the list.

2\. Joey is not allowed to prank people in places of business.

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Well, what do you think? I'm sorry if you think the Tea and Yugi moment should have gone different, but I just never saw the two of them working out together. She will always be Tristan's girl to me. Anyway, that said, please review! They make my day!


	3. Challenge Accepted!

Wow. Okay, so, this is the shortest thing I have _ever_ written. I hope you enjoy, though.

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"House Rules? How long has this been here?" Tea asked, reading the list and sniggering, remembering Joey telling her about the incident with his coffee.

"Oh, not long. Only about a week." Yugi replied. He, Joey, Tristan, and Tea were currently in the kitchen getting snacks for their movie night, while Yami was upstairs with Grandpa, going over possible movies to watch.

"Uh, huh. And he's going to send us to the Shadow Realm if we break them?" She smiled at the thought of their proud and regal friend making such an empty threat.

"That's what it says. Though, I doubt it." Yugi handed her a soda, and the other two came over, wanting to see the paper too.

"Well, Yami _was_ a pharaoh. Maybe he's just used to having control over laws and things. I don't mean to say he's power hungry or anything, just that this might be his way of retaining some of who he used to be." Tristan surmised, and they all thought it over.

The quiet was shattered a moment later, though, when Joey smirked mischievously at the other three. "So, how long do you thing we can get it?"

Everyone looked at each other.

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"How about this one?" Yami asked, holding up what looked to be an action movie. The Motou family kept all of their movies and family games in the upstairs hall closet, and, as it was Yami's night to pick out what they were going to watch, Grandpa was giving him a hand.

"That's a good one. Its about a team of tornado chasers."

"Tornado?"

"Um, kind of like a tall sandstorm, but without the sand. It's a pillar of wind that forms and spins very fast. They're known for being able to destroy everything in their path. Tornado Chasers are paid to go out, find, and study them."

"Wow. That sounds interest-," he was cut off by a chorus of familiar voices from the kitchen.

" _Challenge accepted!"_

"I don't know what's going on down there, and I don't think I want to. Goodnight." Grandpa rose and headed off to his bedroom.

Yami headed down to find his friends surrounding the list he'd made, grinning at him. "I started something, didn't I?" He muttered.

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So, on a scale of rainbows to poking Batman with a stick, how good was this one? Review and let me know! ;3


	4. Grandpa has to say where he is going

For Yugi, coming home to an empty house was a common occurrence. His grandfather tried to remember to tell him when he'd be gone, but with his failing memory, that didn't always happen. He was still, at his age, one of the best Egyptologists around, and it helped that one of the former Pharaohs was now living in his house. Because of this, he wasn't unusual for his grandson to return home only to find that he'd left to go assist on a dig, or give a presentation at some college, or introduce some new exhibit at a museum, and that he was going to be left home alone until the elder's return.

What _wasn't_ common, however, was for Yugi to have invited his friends over, only to find that the house was not only empty, but ransacked as well.

"What on earth? Grandpa?" Yugi called, stepping over an overturned kitchen chair. The Motou family didn't really keep too much stuff lying out in the open, just in case another customer 'found' their way into their house, so there wasn't too much of a mess, but it was noticeable that someone had gone through their stuff. Kitchen drawers were open, as was the hall closet, and the basket of fruit on the counter had been knocked over.

As soon as they realized that something wasn't right, Joey and Tristan put themselves protectively between Tea, Yugi, Yami, and the rest of the house. "Alright, _who's in here?"_ Tristan demanded.

"I'm not so sure there _is_ anyone in here, Tristan. People who break into houses don't usually stick around for very long." Yami said, glancing around suspiciously. "Yugi, do you think they stole anything?"

"I don't know. _Grandpa_?" He called again. And, again, there was no response. " _Hello? Grandpa_?" The others, also getting worried by this point, decided to venture further into the house. After several minutes, they managed to determine that, not only was there no burglar in the house, there was no Grandpa, either.

"Um, does anyone else think that we should call the police? I mean, someone was in here, and we don't know where Grandpa is. He may have just gone out, or he may have been kidnapped again." Tea was visibly worried. "The three of you really need to get cell phones, Yugi."

The others nodded their agreement.

"Wait. What if he was kidnapped again?" Yugi's eyes grew wide at the thought.

"Do you think it was one of your rivals? Or somebody new? That _does_ seem to be the way new rivals introduce themselves."

"Not exactly helping Tristan."

"I guess we should start by ruling out possible people. I'll start with Kaiba." Tea pulled out her cell and called the teen CEO. He picked up after the seventh ring.

 _"If this is about magic trying to destroy the world and some ancient prophesy including some supposed previous life of mine, I'm hanging up now."_

"Um, I'm starting to think I was wrong by calling you first, but do you have Grandpa?"

 _" . . . What? Do I have . . . why would I have the old man?"_ It was rare for one to hear Seto Kaiba sound so incredulous, but Tea didn't really care at the moment.

"Um, it looks like he's been kidnapped again. I was just checking-,"

 _"And you thought that I would kidnap him to duel Yugi, because I've done it before? Look, I get where you're coming from, but I wouldn't be that stupid. I can duel him any time I want to. Why would I waste my time abducting his grandfather?"_

"Okay. Sorry to bother you. Just, could you let us know if you hear anything?"

 _"How would I hear anyth-,"_ she hung up.

"Kaiba doesn't have him. Does anyone have Pegasus's number?" She looked around at her friends' worried faces.

"Um, yeah. I do." Yugi ran up to his bedroom before anyone could stop him.

"Yugi! They still might be up there!" Joey ran after him.

Thankfully, by the time the two of them reached Yugi's room, it was discovered that they truly were the only people in the house. Joey went on full attack mode, peering into all of the rooms and any space big enough to hide even the smallest of people while the smaller duelist retrieved the business card from his desk.

"Here it is." He held it out to Tea, who still had her phone out. "Do you really think he did it? I mean, he lost Millennium eye, and kinda gave up on trying to bring his wife back to life."

"Well, he did it before, and who knows; maybe he discovered a new way? And even if he didn't, he would know if there was a new duelist out there who might be willing to do something like this." She pointed out, dialing the number.

"Yugi, do you have anything of value that someone may have taken? Its possible that whoever it was stole something." Yami said.

"I'll check in Grandpa's room. The only things of any real monetary worth are in there." He said before darting across the hall.

 _"Ah, hello? Who might this be?"_ Pegasus answered the phone, surprisingly, as Tea had partially expected a secretary or Kemo.

"Um, hi. This is Tea Gardner. I-,"

 _"Oh, why hello! What a surprise! So, what can I do for you my dear?"_

Tea rolled her eyes. The man had tried to steal their souls, had plotted to take over Kaibacorp, kidnapped an eleven-year-old, and so much other stuff, and now was able to talk to them as if none of that had ever happened. And, to be fair, he _was_ pretty much on the straight and narrow; he was just still eccentric and a bit unnerving to be around. Some things just never went away completely.

"Uh, well, you see, it looks like Grandpa's been kidnapped. Would you happen to know anything?"

 _"And you think that_ I _had something to do with it? Why, after three years, I thought we had finally put the past behind us."_ He sounded offended at the accusation, and Tea could see him in her minds eye holding his hand to his heart.

"So you don't know where he is?" She pressed.

" _No. I have no idea where Mr. Motou is. Would you like me to help locate him, though?"_

"Sorry for asking you, but we just had to be sure. And yes, thank you. We would love your help."

" _Ok. So do the police have any leads yet?"_

Tea froze. "We . . . we haven't called them. I-I need to go. Thank you for helping and please let us know if you find anything." She hung up right as Yugi and Yami returned in a hurry.

"Whoever it was did steal some things. Grandpa had some knives in his room: artifacts, worth thousands at least. It looks like that's all they were after, because that's all that was touched."

"How many were there?" Tristan asked, worry returning at the mention of stolen weapons. Yugi may have been concerned about the historical value, but Tristan's old gang instincts had just been reactivated. A person had broken into the house, ransacked it, possibly kidnaped an elderly man, and was now armed. This was now even more of a danger zone.

"Um, the case had two _netjeri_ blades, a saber, a _khopesh,_ and three daggers. Oh! And a small, farming knife, supposedly used to cut through papyrus reeds."

"Um," Tea jumped in, seeing where Tristan's mind was heading, "this might be a good time to point out; we still haven't called the police."

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"Thank you for coming over, Mr. Motou. And again, I'm sorry for the short notice." Ishizu bowed as she was showing the man out of her office. She and her brothers had been on their way back to Egypt when she had, almost belatedly, realized that she had promised the Egyptologist that she would take a look at one of his collections that he had had trouble with. All he had wanted to know was what time period they were from, so she had been forced to call him with the news that if he wanted her help, he would have to make it down to the museum before the siblings left to catch their plane.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just glad to finally have this mystery closed. Though, I guess I should be getting back home. I left a bit of a mess in my hurry to leave, and I don't want Yugi and Yami to have to clean up after me." He smiled warmly and walked out into the cool, evening air. Suddenly, a cop car sped past him, sirens and lights blaring. "Oh, dear. I hope everything's alright."

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3\. Grandpa is not allowed to leave the house without informing someone of where he is.

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Originally, I was going to have Grandpa gone on a sudden dig, and he returns to find his house taped off and police everywhere outside, but there were just so many problems with the idea. And then I began writing and this just came out and I was like, _perfect_! So, how am I at writing Kaiba, Pegasus, and Grandpa? I am trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible. Review and . . . good . . . karma . . . will happen? ;3


	5. No Shadow Realm

It had been about a month since Yami had first started his house rules list, and so far, it was only three long. That was about to change, though, just as soon as Grandpa took a look at the rule that had been added for him.

"Yami? I need you to come in here, please." He called into the living room, where his semi-adopted grandson was watching TV with his not adopted grandson.

"Yes? What is it?" Yami walked into the room.

"I was just reading over your list and, well, I think I see a problem."

"Oh? Where?"

"Right here." Grandpa pointed to the warning before the first rule.

"Did . . . I spell something wrong? I'm still learning-,"

"Your Japanese is fine, my boy. What I have a problem with, though, is the 'Shadow Realm' part. Since I'm now on this list, that means that you're threatening an elder."

"Uh, it was just a joke. And, technically, I'm older-,"

"Ah, ah. No arguing with your elders about who's older. I don't want you sending anyone to the Shadow Realm. Understood?"

"I wasn't going to. I can change-,"

"Good. And remember, this day in age, people aren't typically allowed to banish others' souls." Grandpa was trying so hard not to grin at this point. Sometimes, the former king was just too easy to pick on.

"I'm aware. And I'm sorry-," Yami, meanwhile, was getting more and more flustered. And constantly being interrupted was beginning to irk him.

"It's considered very rude, and, in some cases, you could get your own soul sent away as revenge."

"Yes, sir. I understand-,"

"Understand what?" Grandpa put on his best 'confused' face.

"That I'm not to send people's souls to the Shadow Realm."

"You were going to send someone's soul to the Shadow realm? How could you? That's not okay, you know."

Yami had to utilize more self-control than he would have liked to admit to not tear his hair out or break something. "No. I wasn't going to send anyone to the Shadow Realm. It was-,"

"I'll admit, I don't know everything about how life worked back in Ancient Egypt, but these days, people don't just walk around taking other's souls."

Yami grit his teeth. "And we didn't then. It was a-,"

"Well, if you didn't do it then, what makes you think that you can do it now?"

 _"I don't think I can do it now! It was a joke! I'm not sending anyone to the Shadow Realm!"_ Yami finally yelled, catching the attention of the only other occupant of the house.

"Who are you sending to the Shadow Realm?" Yugi asked innocently, not sure what he had just walked in on.

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4\. No sending people to the Shadow Realm unless the world is at stake.

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Abracadabrakuriboh. AND NOW YOU ARE ALL UNDER MY SPELL! YOU WILL BE MY MIND PUPPETS FOR ALL OF ETERNITY! SO HEED MY COMMANDS, MIND PUPPETS, AND REVIEW! O.o


	6. Kitchen Nightmares

It was an innocent idea. One, like many others in their lives, that had almost gotten them killed. Solve a puzzle? Get possessed and have to save the world multiple times. Duel a videotape? Get your grandfather's soul stolen. Hand your Exodia cards to a rival? End up in the ocean in the middle of the night. Choose a path to go down in a creepy, underground cave? Have a giant boulder begin to chase you. After all that the gang had been through, one might think that they would be able to think through anything that might go wrong before granting permission to do something potentially dangerous inside of their own home. One might be wrong, though.

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"So, a picnic? Is that what we've decided on?" Joey questioned lazily from his spot on the couch. The day was too hot to hang out inside (especially with the broken AC unit), and the entire gang was now seated (read; sprawled) all over the Motous' living room.

"Yeah. I'll get the picnic basket. Can you get the food, Tea?" Yugi stood and, upon receiving a nod from his female friend, headed for the basement.

"I'll give you a hand, Yug'." Joey stood, knowing that it would be difficult for the small teen to navigate the storage area. Tristan and Yami followed.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me." Serenity smiled shyly at the older girl.

"I guess so. Lets see. How about I make the sandwiches, and you take care of the snacks?" Tea had known Yugi since she was seven, so she also, in turn, knew the entire layout of his kitchen. She began setting out two rows of bread, humming to herself and watching Serenity out of the corner of her eye. Hey, she was Joey's sister, after all. Who knew what she was capable of, food wise.

"Um, hey, Tea?" The girl played with her hair when Tea looked up.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"I, uh, was just wondering if we could invite Mai? I mean-,"

"Hey, the more the merrier. The phone's over there, unless you want me to do the honors." They grinned and Serenity picked the phone out of its cradle.

" _Hey, Sugar. What's up?"_ Mai answered.

"Hello, Mai. This is Serenity. We were just wondering if you'd like to go on a picnic?"

 _"A picnic? I'd love to! Where do you want to meet up?"_

"Um, we're all at Yugi's house getting ready. You can come here, or you can just meet us at the park. Whichever you want. We should be there in about twenty minutes."

 _"Well, I'm about five minutes from Kame Game, now, so I'll just come over."_ The two said their goodbyes and hung up. While Tea was now putting various toppings on the bread, making sure to make a couple of really thick ones for the boys, Serenity went through the fridge to see if there was anything good to pack. She pulled out a covered plate, knowing from her brother that it was the ribs the boys had had the night before, and put it in the microwave. Just a few minutes and it would-

" _Whoops_. Uh, oh." Serenity turned and saw that Tea, while making what was so obviously one of the boys' sandwiches had been trying to sprinkle just a bit of hot sauce over it. The lid had apparently come off, and now it, and the one next to it, was covered in red liquid.

"Oh, here." She quickly handed over some napkins for her to dab up the mess. "Don't worry. Joey likes spicy food. He'll eat it."

"Thanks."

Smiling, the young teen turned back around to put the ribs in the microwave. She set the timer and went over to the pantry to find anything else they could munch on. She pulled out a half full bag of chips, which she placed on the counter, and managed to scrounge up some dip in the fridge. The microwave beeped, and she flipped the meat, trying to make sure that it all heated as evenly as possible.

 **Knock Knock**

"I'll get it," Serenity restarted the microwave and went to open the door.

"Hey! How's it going? You guys ready to go, or are you still packing? With your brother's appetite I-,"

 _"Oh, my god!"_

They both jumped at Tea's startled cry. A moment later, she dove around the corner. "I think the microwave is about to explode!"

" _What!"_ Mai and Serenity chorused.

"I would have unplugged it, but I just panicked!"

Serenity peeked around the corner, able to hear the hum at this point. What she saw made her gasp. In the microwave were the ribs, _fork still sticking out of them!_ Before anyone could do anything . . .

 **Boom**

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"I almost got it!" Yugi grunted, being held aloft by Joey and Tristan. Admittedly, Joey could have held him all by himself, but after trying that and almost immediately overbalancing, they didn't want to try any fancy stunts and risk getting hurt over a simple picnic basket.

"Move just a little to your right . . . too far!" Yami stood back, directing the little circus performance of where to go. From his vantage point, he was able to see far more than his friends. "Yugi, reach up just a little bit mor-,"

 **Boom**

Yami ducked instinctively. Unfortunately for his partner, so did Joey and Tristan. The three ended up in a heap on the cement floor.

"Oww." Yugi could barely be heard from under his two larger friends.

"Sorry, Yugi." Tristan sat up, and then pulled Joey off of him.

"Guys? What was that?" Yami asked, looking around.

"I don't know, but it sounded like it came from the kitchen."

Everyone looked at each other in horror. "Serenity!" Joey tore out of the basement, the other three hot on his heels.

They ran through the back door and froze. The kitchen walls and floor had scorch marks while the remains of what was supposedly the microwave were currently in flames.

Yugi ran for the fire extinguisher and put them out. Everyone then looked at the two, no, _three_ females standing by in varying degrees of shock and chagrin.

"Oops?" Serenity tried.

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Rule 5: The girls are not to be left unattended in the kitchen.

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All reviewers get a free imaginary espresso! AND NOW THE WORLD WILL BE OVERRUN BY OVERCAFFINATED PEOPLES! FACE MY WRATH, ALIENS! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ABDUCT US NOW?!


	7. First Rule of Sleepovers

The kitchen had been fixed for about a month now. The three girls had apologized profusely, and they had all decided to just go on their picnic, salvaging as much of their day, (and food) as they could. That too, was brought to a halt when Joey handed Yugi his sandwich, claiming that he wasn't sure he could eat after what had nearly happened to his sister. The small duelist had taken one big bite and fell into a harsh coughing fit. In all of the excitement, the hot sauce incident had apparently been forgotten about. They had unanimously decided that it was best to call it a day before anything else happened. And now, three and a half weeks later, Grandpa had finally lifted his ban on the gang hanging out in his house. That, however, was not the only exciting news. Duke had just returned from America, where he had been promoting his new store, and the Ishtar siblings were back from Egypt. There was only one logical thing to do in this sort of situation.

 _"Sleepover!"_

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Malik, Duke, Joey, and Tea were all seated on the floor surrounding a small coffee table. Tristan and Yugi were dueling, and Yami was leaning over the back of Tristan's chair, offering help to the beginning duelist whenever necessary.

"Now, that _would_ be a good move, Tristan, if Yugi didn't still have the Spell Binding Circle attached to your Backup Warrior. Don't forget that its effect is continuous."

"Dang. Well, how about this?" He held up another card for his no longer ghostly spirit to see.

"If you think it's a good move, go for it. You're the one dueling."

"Yeah, yeah. I place two cards ace down, and summon out, um, I summon out Tardy Orc! There! You're move, Yugi."

"Okay, I activate Monster Reborn, and bring back my Dark Magician! Dark Magician, attack Tardy Orc!"

Tristan, eyes flashing with excitement, flipped over one of his facedown cards. "Not so fast! I activate Mirror Force! Dark Magician is dest-,"

"I activate Trap Destruction! Then I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Alright, what to do now. Oh!" Tristan had just seen his opening. "Tardy Orc, attack his Kuriboh!"

"Not so fast! I activate Magical Arm Shield, which allows me to use your Backup Warrior as a barrier! He takes Tardy Orc's attack, and with my Spell Binding Circle lowering his attack points by five hundred, you lose all of your life points. You put up a good fight, though." Yugi smiled at him.

"Man. I really thought I was going to win that one." The tall teen grumbled.

"Well, better luck next time-," Joey broke off. "Hey, Duke?" The game designer was lying on the floor, stretched out peacefully. "Duke, wake up. Well. I guess someone took 'sleepover' a little too literally."

Tea stood and covered the young CEO with a small blanket. "I guess he was more tired than he let on. He _did_ just get back today, remember." The others nodded sympathetically.

"I can relate. Jetlag is a pain in the-,"

"Ahem." Grandpa gave the Egyptian a pointed look.

"Sleeping schedule?" Malik tried to save himself. The elder walked away, looking amused.

"Nice save, dude." Tristan praised, holding out his hand or a high five.

"Lets let him be. He could use some rest." Tea spoke softly, trying to usher the others out of the living room.

Joey, however, had a different idea. "You guys _do_ know the first rule of sleepovers, don't you?"

"First rule?" Yami was confused.

"Never be the first one to fall asleep." The blonde clarified.

The rest of the group looked uncomfortable. "Joey, I don't think you should do anything. He had a long day."

"So? I'm not going to do anything _too_ bad." He hurried past them before they could object anymore. In the kitchen, he found a marker. Oh, this was going to be fun. "C'mon, guys. Just have a little bit of fun. We deserve to act like immature teens after saving the world. Even if it's just for a little bit."

His friends contemplated it for a minute. Then, surprisingly, Yami reached his hand forward. "To tell the truth, I've always wanted to do this." Joey handed the marker over and watched as the proud and regal ex-pharaoh drew a monocle over one of their sleeping friend's eyes. "Who's next?"

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They spent the next fifteen minutes exchanging the marker amongst themselves, silencing their giggles, freezing whenever their victim moved slightly, and trying to find as many humorous ways as possible to have fun with him. The cherry on top however caused another round of disagreement.

"Oh, come on. This is the last thing we're doing. What's the harm in one last thing?" Joey asked, sliding a bowl of lukewarm water under Duke's hand. The dice master was already covered in shaving cream, make-up, and sparkles, not to mention the marker drawings. He carefully lowered the appendage down into it, and backed away. Facing his friends, he smiled in victory. "See? What'd I tell you?" But they were no longer paying him any attention, as it had all been stolen by the dark figure suddenly looming behind the blonde. "Guys?"

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Rule 6. The Millennium Rod is not to be used to stab people

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Let me know how I did! And if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them!


	8. Holiday Special: Revenge

Yami had faced rebel forces bent on killing him and taking over his country. He had seen sandstorms, assassins, and wild animals. He had spent thousands of years in solitude, wandering the endless corridors of a golden artifact. He had battled with the fates of not only his, but his friends' souls on the line. Dueled for the safety of the world, been transported across time and space themselves, _and_ given up his eternal rest to remain in the world of the living. Not much surprised him nowadays. However, there were still some things he was getting used to about the modern world. His own friends being shockingly high on the list.

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"Yugi, what are you doing in there? It's been almost an hour." Yami stood outside the door to Yugi's room, tapping his foot impatiently.

"N-nothing! Just finishing up getting ready! I'll be out in a minute- _Oof_. I'm fine!" His partner called hurriedly through the door. Yami just shook his head.

"Everyone's going to be here soon. You might want to hurry up a bit."

"Don't worry so much." On the other side of the door, unbeknownst to Yami, Yugi was muffling his laughter. Oh, revenge would be great. He would get back at his darker half for hiding his candy stash. Well, it wasn't exactly _revenge_ , per say. More like, conveniently forgetting to mention what day it was.

"If I didn't worry, who would?" Yami retorted. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Yami, could you get that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and finish whatever it is you're doing in there, Princess."

"Princess? Really?" Yugi replied indignantly.

"Yeah, really. Because you take longer to get ready than most _girls_ I know." He smiled in victory and walked downstairs to answer the door, while Yugi voiced his disapproval of his new nickname loudly in the background.

"Hel-," he broke off when he saw just who was on the other side of the door. A tall man, wearing shiny silver battle armor, bright red cape flowing behind him, was now standing a mere two feet in front of him. Shocked at seeing Gilford the Lightning in the flesh, all the young king was able to do was stare.

"I demand entry." The Duel Monster-come-to-life said, pointing his sword directly in Yami's face.

Still unsure if he was actually seeing what his brain told him he was seeing, he robotically closed the door, and then squeezed his eyes shut and counted to ten. He took a deep breath and opened it again. Gilford was still there. And, still pointing his weapon at him. Yami blinked, leaned out the door (being careful to avoid the blade) and looked up and down the street, just in case there might be some explanation out there. Nothing.

"I demand entry." He repeated, towering over the champion duelist.

Yami turned his head slightly, not once taking his eyes off the strange sight in front of him. "Yugi? Could you come here, please?" He heard a door open and then close upstairs. Feet pounded on the hard wood towards him before sliding to a stop.

"You called, Master?" Yami blinked in surprise and broke eye contact with the enigma at the door to look incredulously at his partner-

"Yugi?" he asked in shock. What on earth was going on today?

"I am not Yugi. I am the Celtic Guardian." Yugi replied monotonously.

"Alright. What the heck is going on?" Yami asked, backing away slightly. Had a new villain arrived? Was Yugi under some sort of spell? Was Gilford actually going to use his sword?

"You mean he hasn't told you?" Grandpa's voice sounded from the door leading to the shop. Yami spun to face him, only to be met with a miniature Summoned Skull.

"Told me what, exactly?" The regal teen was now very confused. Gilford had entered the house and was gradually backing him into the corner.

"Joey, leave him alone. Yami, today is Halloween! You mean Yugi didn't tell you?"

Yami narrowed his eyes as Gilford (now that he was looking closely, he could see that it was defiantly his blonde friend) backed away, sheathing his sword. He glanced at Yugi, still dressed as a certain elf warrior, who had switched tactics and was now trying to look as innocent as possible. "No. He didn't."

"Heh, heh. Oops?" The younger duelist grinned sheepishly. Yami just lowered his eyebrows. "Well, you stole my candy . . . so-,"

"So you got Joey to help you prank me?"

"Ac-actually, um, I just improvised that. I saw your face and just couldn't help myself." Joey laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, by the way."

Yami gave the both of them a mild glare for another moment, letting them squirm a bit, and then turned and walked off.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Yugi called, afraid he might have just upset his best friend.

"I can take a joke, don't worry. But I _am_ going to the list."

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Rule 7. Yami is to be informed of all upcoming holidays

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Early Halloween fic for you all! Let me know what you think! :3 Also, sorry if you reviewed my last chapter and I didn't respond. There was a problem with something and some reviews didn't go all the way through. But I have fixed this! I think… However, last thing I'm going to say, I NEED IDEAS! PLEASE SEND SOME! IT'S FUN TYPING IN ALL CAPS!


	9. What Defines A Zombie?

Tea, having been his friend childhood, was the first to know. She was a bit concerned at first, but now it was just one of those things that made him so special. Joey discovered it at a new arcade about a mile away from the one they usually visited, right after they had returned from Duelist Kingdom. They hadn't been back since, and Joey was still not entirely convinced that Yami had had nothing to do with it. Nobody knew how Tristan found out, and he was going to keep it that way. All anyone knew was that it took quite a while before he would stand in the same room alone with the tiny duelist. And as for Yami, well, he knew already. Didn't he?

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"Yugi?" Yami called, walking into the living room. His former vessel was seated on a chair by the window, staring out into the darkness. The sun wasn't even completely set, but the clouds blocked out what little light was left. And the rain didn't exactly help much. "Yugi, do you want to watch a movie?" it had been a quiet day, and they didn't really have anything else to do. Not to mention, the rain had been going for a few days straight now, and being stuck inside was beginning to wear on the younger.

"Mm?" Yugi turned around and finally registered what he'd been asked. "Oh. No thanks."

"Maybe a video game? We have some new ones." The ex-pharaoh tried again. He didn't like seeing his Aibou so depressed.

Yugi sighed. "Why not?" He lethargically stood and walked over to the couch. The coffee table in front of it was filled with the controllers to their gaming systems, various games, and a few snacks. "What did you have in mind?" Yugi asked, browsing over the ones already out.

"I, actually have a new game for you." Grandpa walked into the room, holding his hands behind his back.

"Oh? What is it?"

In response, the elderly man held up a game case. The cover was filled with rotting, partially dismembered corpses. Blood, bullets, and explosions were everywhere. In letters that appeared to have been clawed into the case was the title; Zombiepocolypse.

Yami was actually shocked that Mr. Motou had something as gory as this in his home, not to mention suggesting his anti-violent grandson play it for fun. He looked over at his partner, mildly surprised to see just how pale he'd gotten.

"Grandpa, don't. Please." He begged.

"Come on, Yugi. I thought you liked new games." Grandpa smirked, walking over to the console.

"Grandpa, if you have a merciful bone in your body, you wont put that in." Yugi was defiantly whimpering now.

"It's too bad that I don't at the moment. Raising kids means that you sometimes get to have a bit of fun at their expense." He put it in and made sure that the controller was right in front of Yugi.

"Grandpa," Yami spoke up, "Are you sure this is a good idea? I don't think-,"

"Now, now. I know what I'm doing."

Five minutes later, Yami saw just hoe true that statement was. Yugi hadn't been afraid of the game. No, he had been afraid of Yami seeing him play the game. As soon as the opening sequence began, Yugi had the controller in his hands and was trying to find the best weapons possible for zombie executions. Apparently, he favored the melee weapons over the guns and swords. The former king could honestly say he had never been as scared of his light as he was when he looked at his expression. His eyes were wild with excitement, lip curled back in a snarl, and he was very vocally taunting the rotting, cannibalistic corpses on the screen.

 _"DIIIIEEEEE ZOMBIES!"_

"You know, I never said that it was Yugi's expense I was getting my entertainment from." Grandpa smirked over at him, laughing as he leaned away from the supposedly innocent teen that was now taking on a horde of at least fifteen zombies with the aid of a baseball bat in one hand and a sub-machine gun in the other.

"In that case, I will get you for this."

The gentle, old man had never pulled a more evil smile in his life. "Oh, really. Hey, Yugi. A zombie is someone dead who came back to life, right?"

"Yeah." he growled in response, clicking the buttons necessary to take over a forklift.

"Then what does that make Yami?"

Yugi looked away from the blood and gore covered screen, and turned his attention on his friend.

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Rule 8. Absolutely no zombie movies/games/books/toys of any kind.

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Ktkat- Review and tell me what you think, or I will tie you up to a zombie!

Readers- meh. I can deal.

Ktkat- . . . and set Yugi lose after them.

Readers- _WHERE'S THE REVIEW BUTTON!?_


	10. Kaiba Doesn't Want To Play

It was a cold and stormy night. Actually, it was rather nice out. And the sun was just setting, too. But the moment the door opened, it was like the entire weather forecast had changed in record time.

"Guess what." Came the irritated growl. The tall, powerful teenager looming in the doorway would have been scary enough, but he just had to park his limo directly in front of the little, modest, but proud, game shop, blocking the doorway. His driver was standing outside of it, dressed in the same black as the car, right down to his tinted glasses. "It happened again."

"I'm very sorry, Kaiba. I had a word with the others, but-," Yami was cut off.

"Do you think I care? You had a ' _word'_ with them? I want it to stop, is that clear?"

"Yes."

"Good." He turned to leave, but then stopped. "Oh, by the way, I just wanted to make sure you knew. I'm not petty. That being said, I'm also ready to do whatever needs to be done to get some peace." And with that, the young businessman walked out the door, got in his limo, and drove away.

"Y'know, I kinda thought that after the whole 'saving the world' thing, they would have gotten enough near death experiences to last a lifetime." Yugi leaned in the doorway to the stockroom. "Guess I was wrong."

"We both were. And why choose Seto? Aren't there better targets?" Yami took the box of merchandise from him and began setting it up.

"Not if they want a challenge. Oh, Grandpa said he wanted that over there."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

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Nobody heard from Kaiba again for about a week. Yugi was dusting some of the taller shelves when the shop door swung open and Joey stormed in, soaking wet.

"Joey? What happened?" Yugi climbed off of his perch and went over to his clearly upset friend.

"Nothing, Yugi. That ass-," he closed his mouth, making sure to censor himself, knowing how much his friend hated profanity. "That jerk just dumped a bucket of water on me. I tell ya, he's lucky I didn't have anything important in my pockets."

Yugi interrupted his rant before he could really get going. "Who did?"

Instantly, Joey shut his mouth and looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. "Um, no one."

"Joey-,"

"It doesn't matter. Can I just borrow a towel?"

Yugi sighed. "Were you picking on Kaiba again?" Joey's sullen silence was all he needed. "What am I going to do with you?"

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"Tea wasn't at school again today. Do you think everything's alright?" Tristan asked worriedly. This had been the second day in a row that nobody had heard from her.

"I'm sure she's fine. Probably just sick. How about we stop by her house and see?" Yugi suggested. He, Joey, Tristan, and Yami were walking home from school. All readily agreed.

It was less than ten minutes later that they found themselves outside the simple, two story house that their friend lived in. Yami knocked, and they all stepped back to wait. A moment later, a slightly frazzled woman opened the door.

"Yes? Oh! You're Tea's friends! Please come in." She ushered them in and shut the door. "Thank you for coming over. I think she needs to see you. I'll go get her." She hurried upstairs, leaving them in the living room.

"So, I guess something _is_ wrong. I hope she's alright-,"

" _Tea_ _Ami_ _Gardner!_ Your friends are downstairs right now because they are concerned about you! Get down there and greet them! I don't think they _care_ about how you look, so if you don't at least thank them for their concern, I will be forced to call your father home from his business trip!" All the boys glanced at each other, wide-eyed and slightly afraid. What would make Tea not want to see them?

They didn't have to wonder long, as feet sounded on the staircase, slowly descending. As soon as they saw their female friend, their jaws dropped.

"If anyone comments, I'll go full Hulk." She was wrapped in a red bathrobe, apparently having not even prepared for the day, and teddy-bear pajamas. The most surprising thing, though, was not her wardrobe choice. Her hair, skin, and nails were all, as she had said, Hulk green. "Don't ask."

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"Yami, can you get the phone?" Yugi called, busy washing the breakfast dishes.

"Got it." His dark side picked it up and greeted the other person. "Hello, Motou residence."

"You need to come get your monkey out of my tree."

Yami blinked. It took him a minute to recognize the voice as his rival's. "Seto? What do you mean?"

"Just come get him." He hung up with no further explanation.

Not long later, Yami and Yugi were standing at the base of a large pine tree, staring up and wearing twin expressions of incredulity. Tristan was hovering fifteen feet off the ground, suspended by a net more suited for an episode of Scooby-Doo.

 _"Get me down!"_ He pleaded, swaying dangerously.

"Alright. This has gone on long enough. I'm putting a stop to it." Yami spun on his heel, leaving his sobbing and begging friend hanging. Literally. "Yugi, can you see if Mokuba will help you get him down from there?"

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Rule 9: No more ding-dong ditching the Kaiba mansion. I'm serious.

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 _Shhh!_ Do you hear that? Someone's ringing your doorbell! If you hurry, you might just be able to catch them like Kaiba did!

Avionjade, I would love to use your idea! As I write ahead, it will probably be arriving as chapter 14 or 15. Thank you for the use of your idea!

Please, other readers, send in your ideas for House Rules!


	11. Tech Trouble

It was an unusually quiet day at the game shop. That should have served as a warning. Yami, Yugi, and Grandpa had all been talked into (forced into) getting cell phones. They were nothing fancy, but for the teen who was no longer inhabiting Yugi's body and relying on his knowledge of modern tech, it was akin to learning how to pilot the Starship Enterprise. Alone. With all the controls written in some foreign lan-

"It is _not_ that hard." Tea cut off his train of thought, knowing by the look on his face where it had been heading. "Now, lets try it again. Call Yugi."

Giving her a look, he turned his head towards the kitchen and raised his voice slightly. "Yu-,"

"On the phone, nit wit. You know I meant on the phone." She cut him off with a glare. He quirked one side of his mouth and sighed. Tapping the icon marked 'contacts', he scrolled down to the one labeled, 'Yugi', and selected it. A moment later, ringing was hear from the next room over.

" _Good job, Yami."_ His partner answered from his own phone. _"You're starting to get the hang of it."_

"Thanks." He smiled.

"Now, do you remember how to hang up?" And with that, the smile vanished.

"Um, this one, right?" He pressed the button before getting confirmation.

"Congratulations, genius. You're the first person I have ever met who managed to delete his own phone number." Was Tea's less than amused response ten minutes later.

"Does that mean we can stop now?"

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It took a little over a month before Yami was able to figure out the ins and outs of his new phone. By this point, he was able to use it without help, and had only accidentally hung up on Tristan once. Well, two, if one wanted to get technical, but that was really Yugi's fault. He had been distracting him for a laugh. It was around that time that someone decided to have a little fun.

"Hello?" Duke picked up his phone, balancing it between his shoulder and ear.

" _Hello, um, could you please tell me who this is?"_ The usually proud voice of the King of Games sounded embarrassed and exasperated.

"Um, why?" Duke took the phone in his hand and straightened up, not quite sure he had heard right. This was Yami, right? And he had called him. Why was he asking who he was?

" _Because_ someone _changed all of my contact names."_ He growled.

Duke laughed. "Well, this is Duke. Good luck sorting everyone out. Who am I listed as?"

There was a brief pause, then, " _Koga_."

"Wolf demon, clan leader, I like it." He mused.

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"What do you want?" Seto Kaiba snapped as soon as soon as he recognized the name on his caller id.

" _Um, that just answered my question. Bye Sesshomaru."_

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" _Lady_ _Kaede?"_ Grandpa blinked, staring at his phone.

"Um, Yami? What's going on over there? Do I need to come home?"

" _No. And sorry, Grandpa. Yugi changed all of my contacts to Inuyasha characters."_

"And I had to get her." He sighed. "Alright. Just make sure you're both behaving. I should be coming back in about a week."

" _Alright. Goodbye."_

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"Hey, Yami! What's up?"

" _Joey?"_ He asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah?"

" _This is probably as good a time as any to tell you that I may just have to start calling you Inuyasha from now on. Blame Yugi. Have a good day."_

"Hey, wait! What the heck?"

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By this time, Yami was just trying to have as much fun with his whole situation as he could. " _Miroku_ , _hey_."

" . . . Yami?"

" _Hi, Tristan. Long story."_

"Oookay. By the way, did you finish pages twenty through twenty four?"

" _Yeah. Why? Do you need a hand with them?"_

"Yes. Would you mind if I swung by to study later?"

" _I don't mind, just make sure you don't let your Wind Tunnel out."_

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" _Talk to me, sugar."_

"Mai? Is that you?"

" _Yeah, why?"_

"Sorry. All of the people in my contacts have been changed to Inuyasha characters, and I'm just trying to sort everyone out. You were marked as Sango, by the way." He wrote down the real name on the pad of paper in front of him, right next to her phone number.

" _Ah. I see. Well, good luck."_

"Thanks." He hung up and turned to Yugi, who was seated (against his will) across the table from him. "Okay. The next one is Shippo. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it's Mokuba?" Yugi's face gave away nothing. "Alright. I'll find out on my own, then." He dialed the number and waited for the young businessman to pick up.

" _Hi, this is Rebecca Hawkins! Child prodigy and genius! I am probably busy, so leave your name and number and I will call you back. Have a great day!"_

"Not Mokuba. Okay then."

"Can you let me go now? I really have to itch my nose." Yugi whined.

"Well, gee. I wish I could, but I'm busy sorting out who's who. Maybe if someone were to let me know-,"

"Okay, fine! Kagome is Tea, Rin is Mokuba, Jaken is Roland, Kikyo is Ishizu, and that's it! Those are all I changed! Can you just untie me?"

"Fine. But you also changed your name. I don't see it in here."

Yugi turned beat red. "Hey, in my defense, you walked in the door, and I had to put down the first thing that came to mind. Besides, Kirara's awesome."

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Rule 10. No changing the contact names in others' cellphones

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For all who wanted to see some of Yami fumbling with modern tech, without the help of Yugi's shared mind, you are welcome! I do not own Inuyasha or Yugioh. And now I want to leave you all with the mental image of Yugi dressed up as Kirara. Or, maybe Joey with a giant sword. Or Rebecca running around with magic. Use your imaginations! ;3


	12. How To Enter The Dark Side

Yugi was sound asleep. Most everyone was, at this time of the night, but when Yugi slept, nothing would wake him up. Not even the sound of someone entering his room. The figure eased the door open, paused for a moment to make sure he was really asleep, then crept forward slowly. He made careful, silent movements, creeping towards his target. The object was seated on the edge of the desk, just the perfect place for a swift snatch and run. A hand reached up, closed around it-

 _Plop!_

The pillow came out of nowhere, hitting the figure square in the face. He scrambled back, desperately trying to think of an excuse. Before he could say anything, though, he heard a slightly muffled snort, followed by blankets rustling as the diminutive teen rolled over. A moment later, all was silent and still again. He breathed a mental sigh of relief, and then grabbed what he was after. Then, with a soft creak of the door closing being the last sound heard that night, he was gone.

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"Alright, I got it. You know what to do."

"Yeah, yeah. Still can't see why I'm helping you, though. The guy's my best friend. I don't-,"

"Inuyasha was a teenage boy who was half dog. Remember?"

" . . . He's going down. Lets do this."

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"Yugi, what on earth do you think you are doing?" Grandpa asked, standing in the doorway of the living room. His grandson was currently balancing on the back of the sofa, which had been pushed over against the other wall, searching frantically through everything on top of the bookshelf.

"Grandpa, I promise I have an explanation."

"Well, it had better be good." He replied, eyeing the rest of the room. It had been trashed. The cushions of the couch and both chairs were now all over the floor, while the recliner had actually been tipped on its side. The blinds hung awkwardly in the window, while smaller items like games, video game controllers, and a few snack wrappers were thrown everywhere.

"I have not gone crazy-," Yugi was cut off as Shake it off began to play. Snarling out an animalistic sound, the miniature teen leapt off the sofa and ran over to the television. The noise stopped as soon as he got within a few feet, but he didn't. He ran right up to the machine and began searching all over and around it. As his grandfather watched in amusement, (and a bit of concern), he withdrew his cellphone and stormed out of the room.

"Yami is out. I just saw him."

"Yami is also dead, when _I_ see him." Yugi growled. "He changed my ringtone and hid my phone." Grandpa surveyed the mess that was now his living room, and sighed. Those boys-

 _"Where's a pen? I need to write a rule for him!"_

Slowly, trying to not be heard, the elderly man picked up the copy of Zombieocolypse and left the room. Now was not a good time for that boy to be given ideas.

Yyyyy

Rule 12. _Nobody_ touches my ringtone but me

Yyyyy

I'm sure we can all relate to poor Yugi on some level. Also, I know it's short, but some things just take less words to say. Like 'leave my phone alone'. :3


	13. So, No Streaking?

Yami was tempted to blame Kaiba for the whole incident. Was that childish and petty? Yes. Did he care? Not at the moment, no. The dragon master had organized the tournament. He had decided on the prizes. He had _personally_ invited his now corporeal rival to compete. It was all his doing.

"Are you still pouting?" Yugi asked from his seat on the hotel bed.

"I'm not pouting." Yami growled, not turning around. In all of their times saving the world, all of the moments he had almost failed, even after he had lost Yugi's soul, he had never thought it could be so hard to look his partner in the eye.

It had just been a small tournament. Not even big enough to make the news. Well, any news that broadcast farther than Domino City, that is. Thirty people at most had entered, including Yami and Joey. Yugi had ended up catching a cold that day, but refused to have them sit it out for his sake. Yami had won, beating Kaiba yet again, and claimed the prize; group passes to a hot spring resort up in the mountains. Predictably, he had taken Yugi, Tristan, and Joey. Tea wasn't able to take the weekend off, so she'd had to stay behind.

"You look like you're pouting." Yugi pressed, leaning over and poking his shoulder, trying in vain to get him to turn around.

"I'm not pouting." Yami repeated, ignoring the poking.

"Look, I understand that this is probably awkward for you, but this is Japan. It's normal."

"There is nothing 'normal' about it! How could something like . . . like _that_ be considered 'normal'?!" This time, he did turn around, glaring at Yugi. It held no malice, though. Just confusion and, if one knew what to look for, fear. This was something so new to him, and so against what he'd been taught. He had been brought up knowing that . . . _that_ was unclean. Vile. Something people just did not _do_.

"It's considered normal because this is Japan, not Egypt. Hot springs are a time for relaxation, and bathing in groups is something that's just . . . normal."

"Are you sure?" The expression on his face was that of uncertainty.

"Yes. It's kind of like how we see your culture as being strange for embalming your dead, instead of burying them. Its just our culture."

"I'm sorry. I'll try to join you this time. Just, next time, could you tell me what exactly is going on before you three just start . . . undressing." He blushed profusely at the memory. Walking in on his friends casually standing around stark naked, waiting for him to do the same, no less, had been an experience the young ruler was not eager to repeat.

"Don't worry. We'll be sure to warn you next time. Do you want to try again? Joey and Tristan would probably like some company."

" . . . Yeah. I'll try. And you're _sure_ this is okay? All of us in the hot spring together?"

Yugi laughed lightly. "Yes, Yami. I'm sure. I wouldn't be doing it myself if I wasn't."

Yami sighed and stood, reluctantly, but determinedly striding out the door and down the hall to the changing room. "There is nothing wrong with this. This is Japan. It's normal. We're all guys. I can do this." He muttered to himself, trying to keep up his courage.

"Well, yeah. This is the guy's only pool. If Tea were here, we would have to hang out in the one down that way. That one's for mixed bathing."

Yyyyy

Rule 13. PLEASE WEAR CLOTHES AT ALL TIMES (I BEG OF YOU)

Yyyyy

This chapter is for Turtle-Tastic3000 who suggested a rule where Yami has a 'complete culture fail'. I know this might not have been really what you had in mind, but I had too. I also apologize for any cultural things I might have messed up in this chapter, but I have read multiple manga (but no fanfics), involving bathhouses, and wanted to see how Yami would handle it. :3


	14. Bored Ideas

There are good ideas and bad ideas, and then there are bored ideas. Bored ideas are the ideas one comes up with when one has nothing better to occupy one's time. In other words, a _bad_ idea. And this one qualified.

Yyyyy

"Yugi, did you clean your room?" Yami asked his young friend. His young friend who was currently playing a game of Memory. All over the living room floor. He sighed. It looked like it was going to be another one of _those_ days.

"Yeah, I cleaned it." He replied, briefly glancing up from his game.

"Oh, really? So you managed to find your floor?"

"I know where my floor is. Why do you ask?"

"Because I just checked your room, and it doesn't appear like there was much change."

Yugi glanced away, face guilty. "I, uh, was just taking a break?"

"Oh, really? Well, breaks over. You were told to clean your room this morning."

"Can I finish my game?"

"No."

"Please?" Puppy dog eyes.

"Get going." Yami jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the stairs. In the months since he'd gotten his body and came to live with the Motous, he'd fallen into the role of big brother. It helped that they had already kind of been that way to each other for the entirety of the three prior years.

"Humph." Yugi had also fallen into the role of little brother. And, apparently, when there was no world to save, he could really act the age he looked. The teen would never have guessed that his light was capable (or even willing) of pouting.

"Alright. Come on." Yami walked over and wrapped his arms around his partner's chest and began dragging him back to his room.

" _Yami_! Leggo!" He squirmed and flailed, completely getting rid of any dignity he might have still had.

"No, Yugi. Your room is still a mess and Grandpa said no games until its clean." He grunted.

"Just let me finish my game!"

"No!"

"Ah!" In desperation, Yugi grabbed onto the wall of the stairwell. Yami hadn't been expecting the sudden jerk, so his grip slipped a bit until he was holding Yugi by the legs.

"Yugi! Let go!"

"No!"

"Hello?" They heard Joeys voice from the stairwell leading down to the store.

"Joey, help me!" They chorused.

The blonde ran up only to freeze when he saw what was going on. "Umm."

"Help me get Yugi up to his room!" Yami demanded, voice strained from holding his partner off the ground.

"No, help me! Yami won't let me finish my game!"

Poor Joey just stood there in confusion. A minute later, though, he walked up to the pair and addressed the former pharaoh. "Have you tried his failsafe button?" He asked mischievously.

Yugi stiffened while Yami paused. "Failsafe button? What do you mean?"

Eyes twinkling, the blonde duelist reached out a finger and wiggled it into his buddy's side. The result was instantaneous; Yugi screamed and let go of the wall, while Joey hurriedly caught him before he could hit the floor. "Alright, hurry!" Together, he and Yami carried the tiny champion (kicking and struggling the whole way, mind you) up to his room, and locked him inside.

"You can come out when your room is clean."

"You jerks!"

"Hey, Yami, I'll stay here. You might want to go to the list. Knowing Yugi, he'll use this as an excuse to find out if you're ticklish."

Yami's eyes grew wide and he nodded. As son as he was gone, though, the bedroom door opened. "Alright, Yug'. Get to him before he gets to the pen."

Yyyyy

Rule 13/14: No tickling / No taking my pen

Yyyyy

Well? Two rules in one chapter! What did you think!


	15. Aftershocks

For some households, Saturday was a day of sleeping in and relaxing. For the Motou household, Saturday was a day for chores. Everybody had to do at least a few, but things usually went by pretty fast. Grandpa would clean the floors, Yugi would dust, and Yami would do the laundry. He hadn't liked the machines at first, they were loud and shook like they were about to fly apart, but the sorting and folding and putting away proved to be very relaxing. At the moment, he was measuring out detergent into the small measuring cup. The clothes were already in, and the washer was filling up with water, so this was the last thing he had to do before folding the load he'd just pulled out of the dryer. At that moment, the house shook. The former pharaoh started and ended up dropping the entire box in the machine.

"Dang it." He reached into the water to fish it out, knowing that the cardboard would be ruined, along with the soap in it. He managed to grab it, but by the bottom. Pulling it out, he saw a white, powdery waterfall streaming out of the box. "Oops." Quickly, he righted it, but he could hear that there was hardly any soap left. He glanced around to see I anyone had seen his not-so-graceful moment, and then carefully closed the lid. "I guess we'll just have really clean laundry." He left the clean basket where it was, and hurried down to see what had happened. Probably just another large truck passing on the street, as they lived right by the road.

"Yami, did you feel that?" Yugi asked as he entered the shop area.

"Yes. What was it?"

"An earthquake. It felt like just a little one, but we still have to be careful of aftershocks." Yugi said as he put the stepladder away. He wasn't done with dusting the upper shelves, but didn't want to risk a bigger quake happening while he was up there.

"Okay. So, everything's alright?" He asked, needing to be sure after all that had happened. Yugi smiled reassuringly at him.

"Yes, everything is just fine."

He sighed. "Alright. I the world ends, I'm going to have to blame you." Was his last, joking, remark. He went back upstairs and began folding the laundry. About ten minutes passed before he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and froze. "Yugi"

"Yeah?"

"Aftershocks. Do they usually involve, um, bubbles?"

He heard footsteps approaching the bottom of the stairs. They went silent as Yugi gasped. "Yami?"

"What?"

"Exactly how much soap did you put in the washing machine?"

"Well, see, the earthquake kinda startled me-,"

"Yami?"

" . . . I think I'll be over at Tristan's house if you need me."

"Don't even think about it! You're not going anywhere!"

He leaned out his bedroom window. "I can reach the tree from here. Bye!"

 _"Yami!"_

Yyyyy

Rule 15: Yami is not to go near the washing machines again

Yyyyy

This chapter is for Avionjade. Thanks or the idea! I hope you liked it, and it was very fun to write! Review!


	16. Figures

Ever since they had first met Ryou, they knew that he was a loner. He lived alone, was estranged from his family (what remained of it, anyway), and continued to have trouble making friends, even after Bakura got his own body. He was a good gamer, and one of their closest allies, but would still rather stay home working on his campaigns. As such, they made sure to spend at least some of their group outings doing something he liked. For example, today they would be playing Monster World. The first game of it they'd had since the whole souls-getting-trapped-in-the-figures debacle. Bakura was out for the day, so they knew that he wouldn't interfere.

"Hey, guys. Welcome! Thanks for coming over!" Ryou greeted as he opened the door. Yami, Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristan were able to smell something cooking behind him, and voiced their approval.

"That smells good. What is it?" Tea asked, removing her shoes.

"Just some nachos. A-and grilled cheese sandwiches. I didn't exactly know what you all wanted to eat, but as you're all here, I figured I'd make lunch." He blushed, not really sure how to react to their praise. "They're ready to eat now, if you're hungry."

"Sounds good!" Joey exclaimed, heading for the kitchen.

"Hey, save some for the rest of us!" Tristan chased after him.

Half an hour (and one near brawl) later, all six were seated at the gaming table preparing their character sheets. Yugi as a mechanic (just to try something new), Joey as a barbarian, Tea as the group healer, and Tristan chose to be a paladin. Yami took a little while longer to decide, but ultimately settled on being a spell caster. Ryou, on the other hand, was the Dungeon Master.

"Everyone ready? Cause if so, I've finished your figurines." Ryou sat up the five miniatures at the entrance of the table. They were made to look just like the players, and had each been equipped with the tools and weapons of their individual trades. "What do you think?"

Nobody responded, suddenly reminded of _why_ it had been so long since the last time they had played this game. The lifeless eyes of the replicas stare at them as they had done before, but now they seemed almost sinister. Not the figures themselves, but the threat (however unreal this time, as Bakura wasn't even in the apartment) that they posed. The group all remembered being trapped in them, having to move their stiff limbs across the field, being at the mercy of the Dungeon Master, feeling tiny parts of their bodies chip away as they were crushed.

"Guys? What's wrong?" Ryou asked, noticing his guests' expressions.

"N-nothing, Ryou." Tea stuttered, snapping back to reality. "Its just that, well," She broke off, unsure of how to continue.

"What she means is, last time we played with these little guys, we ended up _as_ these little guys. They're just a bit unnerving to see again." Joey took over.

"Yeah. Not to mention, the whole Zorc thing was just scary. And I think my guys looking at me." Tristan hid behind Tea, realizing only a moment later that everyone was starring at him. "U-um . . . I mean . . . Well, he is. Look at him! He . . . he is?"

"Ooookay. Tristan, you need help. Ryou, do you think we can play something else? We'll help you set it up, but it's still kinda too soon to revisit this one."

"Yeah. Sure."

Yyyyy

Rule 16: Ryou is no longer allowed to make figurines that resemble real people

Yyyyy

This is for presea221! Hope you enjoyed! Please review! :3


	17. Petsitting

"So, that's the deal. And I still have no idea what I'm going to do." Tristan moaned, head resting on his knees. His sister had been visiting her best friend in China for the past week, but had broken her leg and needed someone to help her return home. Her husband was going to fly out later in the day, but their son, Johji, couldn't come with. For a number of reasons. Tristan would have to babysit, but there was a problem with that, too. Johji was allergic to dogs. Tristan's German shepherd needed a place to go, and no one could take her.

"Well, could we help? We could take her, if you want." Yugi offered. The two of them were seated at the Motous' kitchen table.

"Really? A-are you sure? I mean, it'd only be for the day, but the shop-,"

"The shop is closed for the rest of the week, which is as soon as those repair guys can make it." Yugi frowned, still not happy with having to be closed for so long. Random acts of vandalism weren't uncommon in the city, and, having grown up in his grandfather's shop, he had had to deal with the occasional spray paint, egging, or TP-ing. The night before last, though, had been a brick, thrown right through their front window. The gang had not been happy when they'd found out, but there wasn't really anything that could be done other than clean up the broken glass and cover the window.

"But are you sure it's okay? I know you don't have pets-,"

"Tristan, I've taken care of a dog before, don't worry. We have a back yard so she can run around, and I can take her for a walk, and-,"

"And you are aware that she'd have to spent the night? Sis is going to be getting back really late, and they don't want to have to take care of Johji as well."

"She can sleep in my room."

"And will Grandpa and Yami be alright with this?" Tristan pressed.

"They'll be fine with it once I explain what's going on. Yami loves animals, and the presence of a big dog will make Grandpa feel safer after what happened."

There was a beat where nothing was said, and then Yugi found himself unable to breathe as Tristan hugged him as tight as he could.

"Thank you!"

Yyyyy

Yugi had just gotten back from picking up Sachi, and Yami was helping him set everything up. Her food and bowls went into the kitchen, the water one being immediately filled, the dog bed was laid out on Yugi's floor, and her favorite toys were scattered around the living room. The entire time, she never left their sides, often pressing herself against one or the other for pets.

"Sachi!" Yugi giggled as he stumbled again. She was almost the same weight as he was, so every time she wanted to be petted, she very nearly knocked him over. Everything was going great, until bedtime came. Sachi had been behaving very well, for a do suddenly not in her home or with any of her pack members, but when the lights went off, and Yugi tried to get her to lie down on her bed, she seemed to realize that she wasn't going right back to Tristan.

" _Awwoooooooo_."

"Sachi,"

" _Awwooooooooooo_."

"Sachi,"

 _"Awwwwwwwwooooooooooooooo-,"_

"SACHI!"

She paused and looked at him, eyes wide.

"Stop howling."

Her head swiveled to look back out the skylight, ears back. " _Awwwoooooooooo-,"_

"Sachi-,"

"Yugi, could you please get her to stop? I can't sleep." Yami grumbled from the doorway, rubbing one eye. Yugi almost laughed at the sight of the teenage pharaoh clad in modern pajamas. They'd been a birthday (or, rather _re_ -birth day) gift from Tea, and were solid black and covered in mini duel monsters.

"I'm trying. She just keeps going. I think she misses Tristan." Yugi climbed off his bed and sat next to the dog. "Should we try calling Tristan and getting him to talk to her? I heard that that sometimes works."

Yami considered it for a moment, and then noticed something. "Maybe that's the problem." He mused, pointing to the skylight.

Yugi furrowed his eyebrows and followed his finger. "What do you mean? She's used to windows being on the wall and decided to lodge a complaint?" His brain was too tired to deal with all of this at the moment.

"No. I mean the moon is full, and right above us. Don't dogs howl at the moon?"

Yugi sighed and buried his face in his hands. Their entire conversation had taken place around Sachi's howls. "You know what, there's some nails leftover downstairs. You go get some, and we'll put a blanket over it. Maybe then we can get sleep." Yami nodded and ran down to the shop. Yugi looked back down at their 'guest'. "Y'know, Tristan loves you. He talks about you all the time, making sure we know how well behaved you are. Something tells me you switched minds with Johji, though. Little brat." All the while, she kept howling. He shook his head and climbed out of bed to fetch a spare blanket. Ten minutes, one hit thumb, and one sealed skylight later, Sachi continued to sing them the song of her people.

"I thought you said she was howling at the moon!" Yugi growled, scowling when he noticed that his clock read 3:23 AM.

"Please don't forget that I am just as sleep deprived as you. And I'm not exactly the best when it comes to dog knowledge." Yami fired back.

" _Awwwwooooooooo_." Sachi chimed in, not sure what they were arguing about, but determined to not be left out.

"Maybe she's hungry. Did you feed her?"

"Yes! The exact amount Tristan told me to! How about you? Did you make sure she did her business outside?"

" _Awwwwwwoooooo_."

"Of course I did! Do you think she went on a long enough walk?"

" _Awwwoooooooooooo_."

"How far did you want us to take her? We walked all the way to the museum and back! _Twice!"_

" _Awwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooo_."

"We remembered to give her a cookie before bed?"

"Yes! _And_ we played with her and her rubber bone for over an hour! What more could this dog want?!"

"How the heck should I know?"

"Because you were the one who said you had experience with dogs in the past! In case you forgot, _I was raised to be a cat person!"_

 _"Awwwwwwwwooooooooooo."_

Yyyyy

" _Sachi!_ Come here, girl! How are you?" Tristan hugged her tightly, which looked a bit hard to do, as she was wiggling all over the place. "Did you behave? Huh? Were you a good girl while daddy was gone?" Yugi would have giggled at the sight of Tristan talking all silly to his dog, if it weren't for what he was asking her. Finished greeting his dog, the tall teen straightened up and faced his friends. "So, how was she last night?"

Yami and Yugi looked at each other, sporting twin looks of sleeplessness and unamusement. "She wouldn't stop howling all night long." The younger deadpanned.

Looking slightly confused, Tristan cocked his head to the side. "Did you give her Sheep?"

Yami blinked. "Give her _what_?"

"Sheep. You know." He reached into the bag that was holding everything she'd brought with her and pulled out a very sorry looking stuffed sheep. "This. She's had it since she was a puppy and can't sleep without it. Didn't I tell you?"

Yyyyy

House Rule 17: We are no longer able to pet sit

Yyyyy

This is for EVERYONE who wanted me to write a story involving animals. In the manga, Tristan mentions he has a dog, and I just had to write this! Long chapter bonus! Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it! Review!


	18. Fair Play

Yami looked up in surprise as his bedroom door burst open and Yugi ran in. The boy was panting and sweating, as if he'd been running. "Yugi? What's wrong?" Was he being picked on again?

Yugi laughed as he caught his breath, and Yami realized that his face wasn't worried or scared. He was grinning excitedly. "Yami, get your shoes on. Grandpa gave us the day off, and guess what's going on down the street?"

"I have no idea. What?" Yami stood and walked over to his closet, pulling his shoes on.

Yugi bounced around, unable to contain his enthusiasm. It had been so long since the last one, and this time, the gang was coming with! "There's a fair going on! Apparently today is the last day, so we need to hurry! Come on!" He bounced on the balls of his feet, and then turned and ran out the door, not hearing Yami's confused question.

"What's a 'fair'?"

Yyyyy

"What do you mean you've never been to a fair before?" Joey demanded. The Motous, he, Tristan, and Tea were all gathered at a street corner right across the street from their destination.

"Just what I said. I've never been to one." Yami replied, slightly surprised that the reaction had been so extreme. Joey, at the moment, had the front of his shirt tightly grasped in a fist. From what he'd managed to gather, a fair was a place that came around once a year and had all sorts of fun games you couldn't play anywhere else. Along with that, there was also a lot of expensive, greasy, delicious food and a few areas that discriminated against short people. Yugi had been rambling on the way over. All in all, it sounded like nothing more than a larger version of those in-store tournaments Kame Game held on occasion. Well, except for the short people part. Why was Joey getting so worked up over- . . . Wait. When had he ever been able to judge something at face value? Yugi had originally seemed weak and non-threatening, but had turned out to be one of the most formidable opponents he had ever faced. Duel Monsters seemed like a harmless card game, but had saved _and_ endangered the world multiple times. Ryou, the group expert on anything occult or spooky, also possessed the uncanny ability to appear almost more innocent than Yugi. Could this 'fair' be something like a proving ground for young adults? Or, maybe these games were part of a right of passage of some sort?

"Yami, everyone has to go to a fair at least once in their lives!" Joey continued, unaware of where his friend's mind had taken him. "Come on. Nobody's leaving until you've had the full fair experience. Now, where to first? I say we hit the food stands!"

"Heck no! Bad idea!" Tristan exclaimed. "Joey, what's the first rule of these things? _Never_ eat before going on the rides."

"Let Joey eat." Yugi piped up. "He could always digest while we're playing at the game booths!"

"Or watching the performers. And I think this one has animal exhibits, too." Tea chimed in. They all paused, and then turned to Yami.

"Well, how about you decide? Which sounds more fun?" His partner prompted.

Yami froze, not expecting to be put on the spot. "Um, well, I'm not exactly hungry at the moment, so, the games? The games sound good." He had been listening intently the whole time and was beginning to get a bit concerned. Back when he'd been growing up, the only performance involving an animal that drew this many people was the running of the bull, where the new pharaoh had to avoid getting trampled to prove he had what it took to rule them. He'd had to wait a few years before his trial could take place, as he was so young, but would not soon forget the sounds of the Apis bull's snorting right behind him.

He was also able to see the giant metal contraptions from where they were, flinging screaming people around. If those were the rides Tristan had mentioned, he didn't want anything to do with them. Unfortunately, Joey had said 'full' fair experience. He had a feeling that involved being tossed around like a ragdoll.

Yyyyy

They had just entered, and Yami wasn't feeling any better about the place. Up close, he was able to hear the terrified screams non-stop. The machines whirred and groaned as they walked by, but apparently he was the only one fazed. On the other side of the rides were the game booths, each bursting with various stuffed animals of different sizes and colors.

"Okay, so which one do we want to try first?" Yugi asked, looking around. Yami spun, taking in all the games, most being played already. "Wow." This wasn't what he'd expected. None of the people playing the games, or, really, doing anything, seemed anything but overly excited. If this actually _was_ some from of training facility, he must have missed something.

"Yami, over here!" Yugi called, waving him over. "You might like this game. Balloon Darts!" He explained the rules as he handed the boy behind the counter two dollars. The boy took the money and, much to Yami's surprise, handed over six shiny bar darts. "You just take these, and," Yugi readied one, took aim (with his tongue sticking out, causing Joey to snigger), and threw it. At first, Yami thought he had been aiming for the boy, as the projectile had flown right by him. A split instant later, though, he heard a _pop!_ and noticed that the entire back wall was covered in small balloons. "See? The more balloons you hit, the better the prize you can get!"

Yyyyy

Half an hour later, the group was making their way back to see the performers. Yugi had filled his backpack with various stuffed prized, having opted for multiple small ones, as opposed to single, large ones. Yami, on the other hand, hadn't been informed that such an option was available (probably on purpose), and was carrying around a rather cumbersome Curse of Dragon. He'd given the Time Wizard and Harpy's Pet Dragon he'd won to Joey and Tea, but was still having a bit of a hard time salvaging what was left of his pride.

By this time, he was pretty sure he had misjudged this 'fair', but that didn't mean he wasn't apprehensive about seeing the show. Tea had picked up a pamphlet detailing who would be on when, and the rest of the gang was particularly looking forward to this one. This so called, 'Rooni the Great', was apparently a magician who worked with a variety of trained animals. He was sure (mostly) that it wouldn't be dangerous, but still, his nerves remained in edge.

They got to the stage and managed to find some pretty good seats. While they waited for the show to start, they talked and joked among themselves. Joey was leaning over Tristan to try and swipe some of Tea's candy, when suddenly he noticed something on the ground.

"Hey, cool! A Baby Dragon keychain!" He picked it up and examined it.

"Did someone lose it?" Yami asked, looking around.

"That's one of the unspoken rules of these things, Yami. If it's something small or cheap, and it gets lost, its free pickings."

"Sounds kinda rude, if you ask me." Tea snatched the tiny orange dragon out of his hand, pocketing her candy to keep it safe from him. "At least ask a few people before you lay claim."

"Fine." He rolled his eyes and proceeded to tap people on the shoulder. Nobody had lost it, so Tea handed it back. Smiling like a little kid, Joey managed to clip it onto his Time Wizard. "Perfect!"

Yyyyy

The magician had been surprisingly good, and Yami had thoroughly enjoyed himself. The most dangerous animal that had appeared (literally, as it had materialized inside of an empty hat) had been a rabbit. After the show, he had allowed the audience to come up and pet it. A large group of small children, including Joey, had swarmed him instantly.

Now, however, was the part Yami had been dreading ever since they had arrived. They were walking towards the giant machines, still filled with people screaming in terror. Perhaps this was the payment for having fun? The people in charge forced you to test out weapons . . . or, well, machines, of mass destruction? Torture devices for prisoners?

"This is Yami's first time, so how about something easy?" Tea suggested, looking around. Yugi, Joey, and Tristan followed her example.

"What about that one?" Yugi pointed to a (relatively) small machine that had people sitting in various capsules. The capsules, once the people were locked in place, spun not only on a pivot, but also the floor. "Oh! Hey! They're done! If we hurry we can get on now!"

They ran over and Yami felt another spike of concern. At would happen? Would they be spun around like astronauts? He had seen that that was one of the trainings they had to go through. Would something bad happen if he did something wrong? Tea had suggested an easy one for his first time, so maybe there _was_ something he was supposed to do. Maybe-,

"Yami, come on!" Yugi tugged at his sleeve, pulling him back to reality. He swallowed the lump of . . . apprehension (not fear) in his throat, and sat in one of the capsules. Yugi plopped down next to him and pulled the bar shut across their legs. "This might be a bit scary for your first time, so just be warned, it does move kinda fast."

"Oh, yeah. Guys," Joey leaned over from the pod he was currently sharing with Tristan and Tea. "I thought I should point something out, just to spice things up a bit." He pointed towards the center of the ride. "How man zip-ties do you count?"

That just happened to be the moment the ride began to move. Eyes wide, Yami searched the joints and body in a panic. The world revolved around him aster and faster, but he still managed to count at least six more.

Yyyyy

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to make Yami go to the fair. I mean, he seemed like he was enjoying himself at some parts, but at others he just looked miserable. Like he expected another person to appear and try to take over the world." Yugi and the others, minus Yami, who was manning the shop, were seated in the Motous' kitchen the next morning.

"Yeah. And at the end especially. You can't really blame him, though. I mean, how many tournaments has he entered that turned into a 'save-the-world' adventure? And, of course, there was that little stunt that Joey pulled." Tristan grumbled. All three glared at the blonde, who was staring intently at the rapidly growing sheet of paper of the door.

"I think you guys are under estimating one little thing." He turned to them, grinning. "This is Yami. When do you ever know what's _really_ going on in his head?"

Yyyyy

House Rule 18: We are not missing the next fair. (Rides, however, are out of the question)

Yyyyy

DONE! With that chapter, anyway. This one was A LOT longer than I thought it was going to be. And I had planned to have Yami like the rides at the end, but I think this way was better. This request was from Jennex! Please review!

18 fair


	19. Scream

_"Yami!"_

Yami jerked awake at the outcry. Quickly, he hurried across the hall to Yugi's room, fully prepared to attack an intruder. The reality, however, meant slightly less imminent danger. The tiny duelist was underneath his desk, wrapped tightly in his blanket, shaking like a leaf.

"Y-Yami." He choked out. The elder knelt down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "I-I had a nightmare, an-and then I woke up and-and _there's someone on the roof._ " He cried almost hysterically. Yami turned to look out the skylight, seeing only the dark night sky, made much darker now that he was unable to see nearly as many stars as he could in Egypt.

"You stay here and calm down. If there _is_ someone up there, call the police when I tell you to, all right?" His partner nodded and reached up to feel along the top of his desk until he found his phone. Swiftly, he pulled it down and clutched it to his chest.

"Okay."

Yami moved Yugi's desk chair under the skylight and climbed up on it. As silently as he could, he unlocked it and slid it open. From his vantage point, he still could not see any intruder, so he braced his hands on either side of the frame and heaved himself up. Balancing on the edge, legs still dangling into the room, he looked around. There, on the other side of the roof, was a seagull. After making sure that it was the only thing up there with him, he chased it off and dropped back inside.

"It was just a bird, Yugi. You're safe."

"A-are you sure?" He seemed to have calmed down significantly, but had still not emerged from his hiding place.

"Yes, Yugi. I'm sure. Come on out, now." Yami coaxed. Slowly, Yugi crawled out and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." He muttered, staring at the ground. "I just . . . I had a nightmare and woke up to see something staring in at me."

Yami smiled and sat next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Do you think this could have anything to do with the movies tonight?"

That night had been Tristan's turn to pick a movie, and he had decided on the Scream trilogy, as Halloween had just passed. Yugi had, unfortunately, spent the entire time trying to pretend he wasn't scared. The gang was having so much fun and he didn't want to spoil it, but the grip marks on Yami's arm before bed had been a testament to just how afraid he'd gotten.

"Probably." Yugi whispered, bowing his head and wiping his eyes. He was eighteen, for crying out loud. He shouldn't be acting like this. "I'm fine now, Yami. You can go back to bed. I'm sorry for waking you." He apologized again, praying that the older of the two hadn't heard how tight his throat was.

"Are you sure? I don't mind-,"

" _Yami_." Yugi snapped, and then turned his head away in shame. He sighed and felt his body slump, all energy gone. "I'm sorry. I just . . . I shouldn't be afraid. We've faced so much worse than a psycho with a knife and a mask." He paused, and Yami was silent, knowing that Yugi had more to say. "They were just killed, though. They were killed, and given no chance to save themselves. What if . . . I mean, we have enemies, so . . . what I mean is . . . Yami, what if one day; someone decides to beat us by taking our lives instead of our souls or titles? I know there are people out there that don't like us, but what if they choose to act on it one day? Kaiba has a lot of fans that still don't entirely believe that we beat him by honest means. What are the chances that one of them owns a gun? Or a knife? Or a car, even? What if-,"

Yami cut him off. "What if you don't get any sleep tonight? Or decide to become a recluse or a hermit because you watched a movie and got scared? What if you stop dueling because you start to think that everyone there is out to kill you? Yugi, there are so many scenarios that may or may not happen. I understand that you are worried, and you have every right to be, but don't forget how many people are out there who would do anything to protect you. Those people far out number the malicious ones. I'm not saying that you are completely safe, but you are not alone, by any means. And the people who are here for you won't let anything happen to you."

Yugi sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. Yami couldn't see his eyes, as his head was lowered, but he could see the slight tremors that shook his small frame. Gently, he reached out and laid his hand over his shoulders.

"Th-thanks, Yami." Yugi muttered, leaning a bit closer. "Do . . . do you think you can stay here tonight? Please?"

Yami smiled. "Of course, Yugi." He eased them both under the blanket and made sure that Yugi was covered and falling asleep before drifting off himself. Up above, two pure black eyes stared down at them from the skylight.

Yyyyy

Rule 19: Tristan is no longer allowed to pick movies without supervision

Yyyyy

Wow. Ok. This turned out to be darker than I had planned. It was originally going to be pretty fluffy, but then Yugi spoke up and this all happened. Please review and tell me what you thought! Requested by PhantomBrat!


	20. Hardcore Fans

The first time it happened, Yugi was watching the store all on his own. He put down the box he'd been re-stocking the shelves from and opened the front door. A teenage boy a bit older than him staggered out from the alleyway holding his forehead.

"Are you alright?" He questioned.

The boy looked at him and grinned widely. "Yup. Nothing to worry about, dude." And he walked off, chuckling. Curiosity piqued, Yugi carefully stuck his head around the corner and searched the ally he had come from. Nobody was there.

Yyyyy

A few hours later, Yami was helping him help customers. There was only a mother and her two young children, so it wasn't exactly busy at the moment. Yugi had all but forgotten about the strange incident from that morning, until he heard what sounded like a body hitting the wall from the outside of their store. The two teens glanced at each other. The outer walls of the building were made of brick, so it would be difficult to hear if there was a fight going on out there.

"I'll go check it out. You stay here." Yami went to investigate. He found a girl, probably around fifteen or so, pulling out a handkerchief and holding it to her companion's head, all the while berating him for his lack of common sense. "Is everything alright out here?" The ex-pharaoh asked.

The girl turned, just noticing his presence. "Yes, we're fine. My idiot boyfriend just needed to see proof that he isn't a wizard."

"Holly, c'mon. It was funny." The boy whined, trailing after her.

Yami just shook is head and went back inside. The modern world never ceased to confound him. "It was just a kid goofing around. Nothing to worry about." He informed Yugi. The mother and two children made their purchases and left.

Yyyyy

A short while after that, a man in his early twenties walked in, holding his head. "Excuse me," he got Yugi's attention, "would you happen to have a bandage?" he removed his hand to reveal a trail of blood coming from his hairline.

"Yeah, we do. What happened?" Yugi hurriedly retrieved the first aid kit from under the counter and handed over the materials necessary to clean and bandage it.

"Nothing much. Just following directions." He patched up and turned to walk out.

As soon as the door was shut, Yugi pulled out his cell phone and called the one person he could think of. "Joey, do you think you can come over? Something weird is going on in our alley and I don't exactly want to check it out by myself."

"No prob. Oh, but, Yugi." Joey's tone turned serious.

"What?"

"If this ends up being another mission to save the world, you owe me. Big time."

Yugi smirked. "Deal. Thanks, Joey."

"I'll be there in a minute, pal."

Yyyyy

Joey stood in front of the Kame Game, listening. If there was someone back there, they weren't making any noise. Yugi had filled him in on what had been happening, and he didn't want to just barge in without any information on who could be back there. But, if there were people back there initiating fights, why were their victims walking off laughing? Maybe the person wasn't any good? But that wouldn't make any sense. Maybe one or two people might laugh, but not all of them. And someone who keeps picking fights he can't win wouldn't be this silent. Not to mention, what was up with that 'wizard' remark? Was it a private joke between the couple, or was there actually a magician back there? That might explain the laughter, but not the injuries. Joey scowled, fed up with waiting around, and turned the corner, guard up or anything. Except for what he ended up finding. He stared at it. Then blinked and looked again. Finally, he grinned and ran back inside to get Yugi.

"You need to see this." He insisted, pulling him out the door.

Taped to the wall of the alley was a single sheet of paper. In large, bold print, it read: NEW LOCATION OF PLATFORM 9 3/4. HOGWARTS EXPRESS NOW BOARDING.

Yyyyy

Rule 20: Please don't give people an excuse to run into a brick wall.

Yyyyy

Yeah. I saw a picture on the Internet and turned it into this. I hope you all enjoyed! Also, while typing 'Kame Game', I found out just how close the 'K' key if to the 'L' key. That is what editing is for I guess! Please review!


	21. Language Practice

Grandpa had a speech to give at the museum. Yami had run to the hardware store for some supplies. And Yugi was home alone. There was no way this was going to end well.

Now, the young duelist hadn't _meant_ to pry, but then again, he hadn't exactly meant to save the world with a card game, either. He just needed his jacket. It had been in the laundry, and, as Yami was still allowed to _fold_ the clothes, it was in Yami's bedroom. He entered, located it, and was about to head back out when his arm caught on the side of his twin's desk. Papers and cards ended up scattered all over the floor.

"Oops." Yugi set his jacket aside and began picking them up. The cards, (just a few spares Yami had been going through) were stacked back up and replaced in the order Yugi knew Yami liked, and them he moved on to the papers. He reached for them, and then paused. And blinked. And stared. Since when did Yami own floral print stationary? Looking closer, he noticed that the handwriting was defiantly not his adoptive brother's. The characters were sloppy, as if the person was either in a hurry, or didn't know the language well.

' _Hello again, Yami! I just got back from Chicago, and let me tell you, I will never again complain about the traffic in Louisiana. My Grandmother told me to tell you that she says 'hi', and that you sound like a nice guy. I think she was hinting at something, and wouldn't listen when I told her we are just friends. Ugh. Is your family ever like that? I mean, I love them to death and all, but that doesn't mean I want them trying to set me up with a guy I've never even met in real life. A guy who's, if I might add, not even in or from the same country as me! Anyway, I guess I got a little carried away. Sorry. I hope to hear from you again soon! How's my Japanese coming? My teacher says I still need to work on it a bit. As always, sorry for my handwriting, and good luck in your next tournament! –Casey'_

Yugi shook his head and looked over the other papers, noticing that the one in his hand was dated almost two months ago. Most on them were from Casey, while the only one that wasn't was a half finished letter _to_ her. He leaned over to get a better look at it-,

"What are you doing in my room?" The papers went flying again as Yugi jumped and spun around. Yami, looking slightly amused, but still trying to appear stern, stood in the doorway.

"Jacket." Yugi blurted out instantly, then blushed and clarified. "I came in to get my jacket and accidentally bumped into your desk."

"And decided to read letters that are clearly not yours?"

Yugi gulped and looked down, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

The older teen nodded and bent to finish cleaning up. "That's alright, Yugi. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"It won't." Yugi moved to the door, handing over the letter he had just realized was still in his hands. "By the way, are you sure her Grandmother wasn't hinting at something being there for a good reason?" He took a step back, grinning.

It took a minute for Yami to catch on to what Yugi was implying, but after he scanned what letter it was, he turned a glare in the direction of his partner. "Were pen pals. Her teacher had each of the kids in her class get one from Japan, so they would get experience in writing in the language. Mr. Langly, the guidance counselor, asked me to volunteer to be a pen pal so I could work on _my_ writing a bit more, too."

"Uh, huh. Yeah. And, how long have you two been talking? She knows you are a tournament duelist-,"

"I was unsure of how to break the ice."

"And is perfectly fine with telling you what state she lives in-,"

"He told me a while ago that she didn't think it was plausible for a high school-er to fly halfway around the world to rob their teenage pen pal's house when all they have to go on is the extremely general area in which it is located."

" . . . So there is nothing going on between you two?"

"Yugi, I know the look on your face. I am not interested in her, nor is she in me."

Yugi just grinned and walked away. "Sure. Whatever you say." He sang happily. Hey, it was a sibling's job to tease. Inside, though, he was grinning for Yami. It looked like he was fitting in to the modern world just fine.

Yyyyy

Rule 21: Letters are to be opened and read by the person they are addressed to _only_

Yyyyy

This request was pretty fun to write! Thanks to ShatterTheHeavens for sending it in! Hope you all enjoyed! Please review! :3


	22. Distracted

Yugi yawned loudly and stretched, reaching his arm as far into the air as it could go. Joey chuckled silently when he noticed that his buddy's hand didn't even reach his head. Yugi really was short, and it always somewhat surprised him when he noticed all over again.

"'M tired." Yugi muttered, lethargically picking up his cards from the duel they had just finished. There was going to be another tournament soon and Joey had wanted to get in some practice. The two had started dueling right after school and, since it was Friday, didn't see any reason to stop once it got dark out. This led to them finishing up their last duel at . . . what time _was_ it, anyway? Yugi looked at the clock and his eyes widened when he realized that it was nearly two in the morning. "Are you sure you're alright sleeping on the couch, Joey?" He asked, nearly tripping over the coffee table.

"I'm sure, Yugi. Goodnight."

Yugi blearily rubbed his eye, and then gave a half-hearted wave. "G'night." Joey watched to be sure that he made it safely all the way up the stairs, before stretching out on the couch and falling asleep himself.

Yyyyy

 _"My Red-eyes attacks your Blue-eyes, Kaiba!" Joey yelled at the other dragon duelist, directing the attack with his finger. He was perched on his dragon's back, (why, and how, he hadn't the foggiest idea, and at the moment he didn't care.) soaring high above the city. Unfortunately, so was his opponent. Fortunately, he was beating him. This last move would finish him off for good._

 _"That's what you think, mutt! Activate, Mirror Force! Send his attack right back at him! Your Red-eyes is destroyed!"_

 _Joey had a second of panic, before he remembered something. "That's what_ you _think! Now I activate my facedown cards, Grave Robber and Mind Control! I use can Grave Robber's effect to treat myself to your Attack Guidance Armor! This directs your attack away from my dragon to any monster on my side of the field that I want it to!"_

 _"If I'm not mistaken, you don't have another monster on your side of the field." Kaiba hollered back over the wind._

 _"I don't. But you do! Mind Control! Get me his Blue-eyes!" The massive dragon shook it's head and roared, but still switched to his side of the field. (If you could call it that, actually, as they were high in the air.)_

 _"No!"_

 _"And now, Blue-eyes White Dragon takes the full attack of my powered up Red-eyes Black dragon-,"_

 _"Joey."_

 _"Not now, Yug. I'm about to win." The fireball continued on its path, right at Kaiba's prized monster. Closer and closer. Joey would finally beat that stuck-up jerk-_

 _"Joey!"_

Yyyyy

Joey jerked awake, momentarily confused. Yugi was standing beside him, hair messy and still in his pajamas. As he realized that the entire duel had been a dream, he groaned and sank back down into his pillow. "You just _had_ to wake me, didn't you?"

"Sorry. Registration closes in two hours, so I figured we should start getting ready to go." Yugi turned to go back upstairs. "I call the shower first."

Joey sighed, and then got up. There was no way he was going to be able to finish that duel now. Might as well get breakfast going. He wandered into the kitchen and looked around. On the counter was Grandpa's new blender, plugged in and ready to go. Suddenly, a fruit smoothie sounded delicious.

Yyyyy

Ten minutes later, Yugi got out of the shower, dried of, and dressed or the day. The tournament was going to last the entire weekend, so he wanted to make sure they were in time to register. After putting on his choker, he headed down to get something to eat. Upon rounding the corner, however, he froze. In cartoons, he had quite often seen one character notice something about to happen, then time begin to move in slow motion as they rush to stop it. Sure, he had experienced this feeling before, but that didn't mean he was used to it. "Joey! Stop!" Not that it did any good, though.

A second later, he, along with much of the kitchen, was covered in fruit smoothie.

Joey, eyes wide in shock, belatedly placed the lid on top of the blender. "Um, oops?" He had been trying to recall his dream, hopefully find some sort of strategy that his subconscious knew to defeating the talented CEO.

Yugi leveled a stare at him.

Chuckling nervously, Joey said the only thing he could think of. "How's it taste?"

Yyyyy

Rule 22: Joey is also not allowed unattended in the kitchen

Yyyyy

This was requested by PhantomBrat! And I just _had_ to include that duel. Hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	23. That One Friend

"Sister." Malik called from the doorway to her museum office, gaining her attention. "Are you about done? Odion called to let us know that dinner will be ready soon."

"Thank you, Malik. I just have to file these reports on the latest exhibits and then we can go." She held up a stack of folders and got back to work.

"Yeah well, could you hurry up? I'm _starving_." She frowned at the new voice, knowing without even having to look just who it was.

"Marik, I would appreciate it if you could allow me to complete my job. The very job, I might add, that _pays_ for your food." She got a snort in response, but heard feet walking away. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder why we offered to let him stay with us in the first place."

"Where else could he go? And it's not like he knew anyone else who would take him in. Everyone else is _still_ wary of him after all that happened." Her younger brother replied. "Besides, he's not really all that bad anymore."

She turned to stare at him. Monotone, she spoke in her best Marik impression. "Here, guys, try this. I made it myself."

At the memory, Malik turned slightly green. "Alright, never mind. Why did you invite him to live with us, again?"

Yyyyy

"What kind did you get?" Yugi asked his taller counterpart. They were strolling back to the game shop after taking a break to pick up ice cream. Yugi had decided on triple chocolate chunk, while Yami was munching on some pale yellow colored flavor.

"Banana." He answered, quickly catching a drip before it reached his hand.

"Banana? Why? They had everything from caramel to rocky road. It just seems kinda . . . boring." Yugi took a bite out of his dark brown dessert, and then stopped as they neared the end of the sidewalk.

"I like banana. When I was young, tropical fruits were very rare to come across. Sure, they grew in the desert sometimes, but I wasn't exactly allowed to go look for them. Bananas were always my favorites." Yami grew silent as he reminisced about his past. He loved where (and when) he lived now, but it would never be able to replace his first home. It hadn't all been nice and easy, that was for sure, but it had been home. Mahad and Mana, his horse, his tutors, lessons in sword-fighting and foreign languages . . . an actual relationship with his cousin.

His mood fell slightly. He knew that, just as Yugi was not he, Seto was not, nor would ever be, his cousin Set. He knew that it was unfair to try to force the teen to be someone he wasn't (heck, wasn't that why he was the way he was? Gozaburo forcing him to become a ruthless businessman?), but it was also hard to see the face of one of his closest companions on his most relentless opponent. Set had been the one person to see him cry when his father had . . . left. He had been the one he had entrusted with his throne and kingdom. Seto had stooped to kidnapping an elderly man, had tested his prototypes on he and Joey, and had designed and entire tournament with the sole purpose of defeating him. Set had never cared for power, or pride, for that matter. To him, they just got in the way of his studies and duties. That didn't mean he would strip down to his skivvies for a jaunt through the gardens. He just wouldn't go out of his way to further it.

To his modern incarnation, however, there was little that was more important. His brother, his company, and the fate of the world, for starters. He had also saved their lives a number of times-,

"Pharaoh!" He blinked and froze. With his mind switching back and forth between the modern world and the ancient one, he briefly forgot where he was. "Pharaoh!"

He looked for the source of the call, turning and examining the passing faces.

"Hey, Malik!" Yugi pointed, waving his friend over. The blonde ran up to them, completely oblivious to the stares he was getting from passersby.

"What's up? What are you two doing out here?"

"Not much. We were just getting some ice cream. What about you? What are you doing out here?" Yugi responded.

"We were just on our way home for dinner! Ooh, what kind of ice cream did you get, Pharaoh?" He this attention onto the taller of the two.

Yami hardened his gaze a bit, noticing gazes direct themselves in his direction. "Banana. And please don't call me that."

"Banana? That sounds so good! Maybe we should get some after dinner! Wait, don't call you what?"

It was at that moment that Marik made his presence known. "Pharaoh. He said not to call him 'Pharaoh' anymore. Though I can't seem to see why. It suits his royal majesty perfectly."

Yami glared daggers at him. "It is no longer my title. I am no longer Egypt's ruler."

Misinterpreting Yami's reluctance to hear his former status as shame for having lost it, Malik hurriedly attempted to smooth his 'king's' ruffled feathers. "Y-yeah, but that doesn't mean you aren't a Pharaoh anymore. Once a king, always a king, right?"

Before Yami could reply, Marik broke in. "Yeah. And we are your loyal subjects. Oh, wait a minute. You seem to be a little far from the desert, your royal highness. What, did you take a wrong turn at the Shadow Realm and end up on out little island?"

Yami drew his eyes away from the blonde's just long enough to see the small crowd that had formed. Then he locked eyes with him again.

Yyyyy

Rule 23: In public places, my name is 'Yami'. (And, Aibou, please don't stop me from challenging him to a duel next time. I wasn't _really_ going to take his soul. Well, all of it, anyway)

Yyyyy

Well? What did you think? I just let the story go where it wanted to with this one. Also, I blame any and all problems on the fact that I wrote this at midnight. Request was from presea221! Review, follow, favorite! Hope you continue to enjoy! :3


	24. Short Rule

Common knowledge was one thing. Common knowledge knew that Seto Kaiba would destroy anyone who came near his brother. It knew that Tea loved to dance, and that Joey could aim a punch as well as he could a holographic sword. It knew that, if you lived above Kame Game, chances were good that you were . . . below average height. And, unfortunately for the three this applied to, common knowledge and common sense did not always go hand in hand.

Yyyyy

"Hey, guys!" Joey called into the shop.

"Hey, Joey! We're back here!" Yugi responded from the back. The two had agreed to go check out a new attraction that the Black Crown had just set up. It was supposed to be a play on haunted houses, with duel monsters popping up instead of ghouls.

Joey made his way towards where the voice had come from. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't exactly watching where he was going and ended up slamming his shin right into a stool. " _Ow!_ " He clutched the bruised area tightly, repeating the same mantra in his head the entire time. 'Don't cuss. Don't cuss. Don't cuss.' When the pain finally passed he glared at the offending piece of furniture, and then picked it up and placed it on the top of a nearby shelf. "And you'll stay there until you learn to stay out of people's ways."

"Who are you talking to, Joey?" Yugi walked up; absently placing his deck inside it's carrying case on his belt.

"Nobody. You ready to go?" He watched as Yugi ducked behind the counter to grab his jacket and pull it on.

"Yup. I'm all ready. Lets go!"

Yyyyy

"Yami, I want you to restock shelves, alright?" Grandpa called. Yami had just gotten in from collecting the mail, and he smirked when he noticed the boy slipping a particular letter into his pocket.

"Yes, Grandpa. I'll get right on that." Yami replied, picking up a box laden with starter decks.

"Oh, and one more thing," he held up his finger, stopping the young royal in his tracks. "Tell Casey that I said hi. You two would make such a cute couple." Before he could get a response, he bolted up the stairs.

It took Yami's brain a moment to process what had just been implied, but when it did, he shouted after his elder. " _She's not my girlfriend! We're pen pals!"_

He growled and got to work. All of the racks were refilled, the hanging displays replenished, and the larger games that went on the top shelves were . . . in their boxes. Waiting.

Yami searched the closets, storeroom, living quarters, and even the sidewalk (you never knew), but couldn't find the stepstool anywhere. Finally, sighing in defeat, he leaned back against the tall shelf where the games were supposed to go, and stared up at the ceiling as if it might have an answer. It did.

" . . . Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Yyyyy

Rule 24: Tall people are not allowed to hide short people's stools. (Unless you want to wage war on the short people. And you know we'd win.)

Yyyyy

Just a short little chapter this time. The next one will be longer, but I'm not sure if I will be able to get it up before the break. I will try my best though! Also, heads up, I did alter my penname a bit (just incase anyone was wondering). It is still the same, just capitalized. I got so tired of seeing it like that -.-;

AND! The one shot requested by my 100th reviewer is also up! If you want to see some Kaiba brother (including Noa) bonding, go check out DNA and Microchips.

Until next time, please review! :3


	25. Enter the Tomb Raider

The night was young, the joke was old, but it had to be done. Bakura had been over to the Kame Game the day prior, and now the proud teen pharaoh was leaning a little more towards the 'teen' instincts in him. And when Ryou invited him and Yugi to his apartment for a movie night, he found it impossible to pass up an opportunity for revenge.

Yyyyy

"Alright, spill."

"Yugi? What do you mean?"

"I saw the look on your face. What did you do?" The younger teen spun on his heel and began walking backwards, so as to look the other in the eye. They were currently walking back home after finishing a Harry Potter marathon. Well, half of one, anyway. The rest of the movies would be seen the next weekend.

"I didn't do anything that wasn't deserved." Yami moved Yugi to the side slightly, so that he wouldn't walk into a trashcan.

"You also didn't answer my question."

"If I'd planned to, I would have. As of now, I'm not going to answer you."

Yugi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can you at least tell me what you were getting revenge for? I don't see you doing something like this just or the fun of it."

Yami was silent for a moment, and then snorted. "Bakura. I caught him going through my room. I still haven't found what, if anything, he did in there, but I thought he just needed a warning."

Yyyyy

Bakura stretched and yawned, then stood up and shook his head. "Ryou," he called, hearing movement in the kitchen. "Never let me watch Harry Potter before bed again, alright?"

"Alright." The smaller teen replied, breaking another egg for breakfast.

Bakura made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He turned on the water and let it warm up, then began to undress. Getting under the spray, he let his mind drift back to the dream he had just woken up from. That damn pharaoh, dressed in the red and gold of his house, had been flying around on one of those half horse, half bird things. He and Bakura had been yelling strange words at each other amid flashes of light, and those brats that always followed him around had been circling them on brooms. The whole thing was just . . . ludicrous. Was that blood?

He paused in lathering up his hair and stared at the bottom of the tub. The water was pink. Was he bleeding from somewhere? He didn't remember getting cut, nor did he feel any pain. Looking at his body, he noticed that the shampoo dripping down his legs was also all pink. What on earth? Hurriedly sticking his head under the showerhead, he rinsed out the remainder of the shampoo and jumped out. He hadn't been in long enough for the mirror to fog over, but that didn't stop him from wiping the glass to try and clear away what must have been an illusion. His hair was dyed completely pink.

Desperately, he dived back in the tub, this time grabbing Ryou's bottle of shampoo, and scrubbed his head until it hurt. That didn't change anything, though. His head was still fit to direct traffic.

" _Ryou! I'm gonna kill that damned pharaoh!"_

Yyyyy

Yugi picked up a pen and filled in a line on Yami's ever growing list of House Rules. Just as he finished, he heard a shout and then slow footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Yugi, I think I found what Bakura did in my room." Yugi turned and choked. He really was trying not to laugh, but the sight of the King of Games with cake covering his face and shoulders was just too much to bear. "Yugi, please, just hand me a towel. Get up and stop laughing, its not that funny."

Yyyyy

Rule 25: Pranking Bakura is never a good idea. (Seriously, the security on our house isn't going to do anything to keep him out. At all.)

Yyyyy

So, what did you think? This request came from ShatterTheHeavens! Hope you enjoyed! As always, please remember to review/follow/favorite! :3


	26. First of The Month

12:00. The witching hour. Midnight. For some, this was a time to sleep. Most, actually. But not this night. This was a time for kill or be killed. Attack first, lest you be attacked yourself. In other words, a single figure was sneaking around the house. He had armed himself with his weapons of choice and was now putting them to use.

Rubber band around the mini-sprayer on the sink? Check. Chicken soup mix in the showerhead (along with mental note to skip showering the next morning)? Check. Air horn strategically placed under a stool? Check. Fake mouse attached to a trip wire? Done, done, and done. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Yyyyy

Yami was from, not to sound old, a different time. A time when things were different. They would bathe in water, sure. Was it a pain to bathe with no indoor plumbing? Yes, (although he hadn't ever had to prepare his tub himself, it still took his servants a while to fill it with water.) However, in his time, he had never cleaned himself in what smelled like soup. He had at first thought that it was that new soap Yugi had bought, and then checked the shampoo and conditioner bottles, just in case Bakura had decided to get revenge for his revenge. It was after that, though, that he had finally managed to pinpoint the source of the smell: the water itself. Turning the shower off and then back on had done nothing. Wanting to determine if it was a problem with the pipes or the water, he turned on the lower faucet instead. This water appeared to be just water. Confused, but still not wanting to waste water, Yami quickly filled the tub and took a bath. The modern world was strange. He'd have to bring the smell up with Yugi later.

Yyyyy

Tristan Taylor had been raised in a military home. He had been trained in the use of various forms of weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, and evasion. Sachi, his dog, had also undergone a full course of specialty training. Therefore, he defiantly did _not_ scream like a little girl when he went to walk through his friends' kitchen and a mouse ran out at him.

Quickly, he scrambled up onto a nearby counter, but the little vermin changed directions and bolted towards him. Panicked at this point, (or . . . just . . . trying to devise another way to get away from it), Tristan froze. The mouse, surprisingly, stopped moving too. What surprised him, however, was the fact that the mouse had stopped about two inches above the ground.

"Tristan? What's wrong?" Tea ran in from the living room, followed by the rest of the gang.

Taking a deep breath, he reached down and pulled the fishing line off of his shoe, where it had apparently wrapped itself. "Really? The old rubber mouse gag?"

Joey snickered. "Before you roll your eyes at it, buddy, keep in mind who fell for it." Deftly dodging a swing from his oldest friend, the blonde dropped down onto a nearby seat, the picture of calm. Until the seat blared an alarm that made everyone jump. Instinctively, Joey shot up and kicked the stool away from him. The noise stopped, but it was another minute before anyone approached it.

"What in the heck was that?" Grandpa asked, coming down the stairs.

"I think it was this." Yugi replied, pointing to an air horn taped to one of the legs. It was arranged so that the button would be pushed when the seat was sat on.

"What on earth was that doing there?" Tea unwound the tape and pulled it off, setting it on the table.

"I don't know." Yugi shrugged nonchalantly, and then glanced pointedly at the calendar. "Hey, we should fix this. It's no longer March." He turned the page and revealed the large print announcing the new month. APRIL~

"You have got to be kidding me." Joey deadpanned. "Today is April Fool's Day?" Yugi just grinned. "You sure you should be gloating?"

"Joey, stop. What's April Fool's Day?" Yami interjected.

"It's a day where people play pranks on each other. Its really fun, if you can avoid getting pranked." Tristan filled in.

"Really?" Yami glanced at Yugi. "And I take it that you're the reason the shower smelled like chicken soup this morning?" The small duelist tried not to smile. Tea, Joey, and Tristan looked at him in surprise.

"Possibly."

Yami remained silent for a moment, and then raised a finger to his chin. "Y'know, it seems like, as the King of Games, I should be offering some competition." He grinned as he saw Yugi lose his smile. "I have until the end of the day, right?"

Yyyyy

"So, where do you think Yugi went?" Joey asked, helping himself to another piece of pizza. The four of them had ordered it for their spur of the moment movie night.

"Most likely the Ishtar's place. They probably don't celebrate today." Yami pressed play on the movie.

"Do you think he'll call your bluff?" Tea sat down, placing a bowl of popcorn on the table in front of them.

"Would you?" The teen grinned at her.

At that moment, the front door opened and a figure stumbled in. a figure completely covered in feathers and sparkles. "Motou! Help me! Rebecca's booby trapped the entire house!"

Yyyyy

Rule 26: Change the calendar on the correct day (And didn't I already say to let me know when holidays are coming up?)

Yyyyy

Sorry for the delay! This one was surprisingly hard to write. Requested by kaitenzero. Let me know what you thought! See you next time! :3


	27. A New Game

Yami grunted as he unloaded another box. Their shipment of merchandise had just arrived and he and Yugi were helping the driver get everything inside. Currently, Yugi and Takeru were inside sorting where the latest boxes went. This meant that Yami was completely alone when the mental case walked up.

"Freeze! Right there! Do. Not. Move." Startled, Yami froze. He eyed the young man, who was gazing and fiddling with his phone frantically, as if he were on the brink of curing cancer. Confused, and a bit irritated at being ordered around and then ignored, Yami went to walk off again. _"I said don't move!"_ The young man snapped, sounding desperate.

"Okay, okay. Why can't I move?" Yami shifted his position slightly, trying to adjust his hold on the box. It was only filled with cards, but cards tended to get heavy in large quantities.

"Because there is an Eevee on that box." He whimpered. He tapped at the screen in mounting desperation.

Yami just arched an eyebrow and glanced down at what he was holding. There didn't appear to be anything on it. Perhaps the man had . . . issues? "What's an Eevee?"

" _Shh!_ Let me concentrate!" The man bit his lip and kept his focus on his phone. A minute later, he froze in shock, jaw dropped open. Then, almost as quickly, he recovered. " _Yes!_ Oh my god! Eevee is mine!" As Yami watched on in incredulity, the man spun, flashed him a peace sign, and announced loudly, "I caught an Eevee!"

" . . . Good for you?" Yami was now certain there was something wrong with this man.

"Thanks, kid. Oh, you can move now. See you around!" With a small wave, the man continued on down the street as if everything was normal.

"Yami? What are you doing out here? We're waiting for the next box." Yugi appeared at his side.

"I was held up by a man claiming I had some kind of creature on this box." Yugi cocked his head to the side in confusion. "He then claimed to have caught it with his phone, and walked off."

Sudden realization dawned on the smaller teen's face and he began laughing. "That man was most likely playing Pokémon Go. It's a game you can download on some phones. You walk around and battle each other with creatures you catch. It's set up so that you can see the Pokémon in front of you when you look through your phone screen."

"Soo, he wasn't crazy?" Yami shifted the box in his arm, walking inside.

"Nope."

"What do these creatures look like?" He placed it down and stretched his arms, trying to get circulation back. Working in a game store involved more heavy-lifting than most thought.

"There are hundreds of different kinds, just like in Duel Monsters. Did he say which one he caught?"

"Yeah. It was . . . um . . . Eevee?"

Yugi, who had been reading the label of the box he'd brought in looked up in surprise. "Eevee? Really?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Yugi opened the box and drew out what it held. Inside were several tiny figurines off all shapes and sizes. The one in his partner's hand was tiny, brown, and looked like a Pomeranian. "Grandpa ordered a bunch of Pokémon statues because tons of people have come in asking if we carried them. This one has Eevee and all of it's evolutions."

Yami laughed and sank down, sitting for a minute. "Are you serious?"

"Yup." Suddenly, Yugi seemed to notice something. He looked around, eyebrows raised. "Where's Takeru?"

Yyyyy

" _Mister! Wait!_ I just want to trade! You want my Scyther? Or my Onix? I'll trade you my Jigglypuff!"

Joey stepped out of the way as two fully grown man ran past, the one in back waving his phone. "What did he just say?" He turned to Tristan.

"Something about jiggling fluff."

"That is not something I would run through town yelling."

Yyyyy

Rule 27: Delivery men are not allowed to take unscheduled breaks to further their hobbies.

Yyyyy

I do not own Pokémon or Pokémon Go. I have never played it before, but I know people who have and based this off of what they've told me. I'm sorry for any inaccuracies or mistakes. This was requested by LadyRaider92! Let me know what you think! Review! :3


	28. Setting the Clock Back

Yugi Motou was good at math. Years spent playing Duel Monsters and working a cash register, along with everything else it took to keep their shop running, had required him to be. He may not have had very good grades in many other subjects, but he did know math. _Time_ , he figured, was not so good at it.

Yyyyy

 _"Hey, Joey. If you're not too busy, would you mind coming over to the shop and telling me if I've finally gone crazy or not? Thanks."_

Joey pulled his phone back from his ear and stared at it. According to the screen, this message had been recorded about ten minutes ago, while he'd been in the shower. Quickly, he began pulling on his clothes and shoes. Yugi had sounded pretty flustered, but not especially panicked. That being said, the blonde had been around his buddy long enough to know that his level of calmness didn't always correlate directly to the level of potential danger he could be in. After all, he had been perfectly calm that time he'd gotten in Kaiba's limo and ended up in a fight for his life against the Lord of the Dead, Anubis, himself. In less than two minutes, he had dressed, grabbed his deck, and left the house.

Yyyyy

As he approached the Kame Game shop, he felt worry rise in his chest. Outside, parked in the alley, was a group of motorcycles. Was there a gang inside? Were they making demands? Threats?

Snarling, he threw the door open, noticing that the sign had been flipped to 'Closed', even though it was the middle of Saturday. The shop area was deserted, but he could hear voices from up the stairs, in the living part of the building. Not hesitating, he bolted to the second floor and barged right in.

 _"Alright, what's going on here?"_

A teenage boy with long black and yellow hair, standing just shorter than him, spun around in surprise. "You're Joey Wheeler."

Joey paused. The boy knew his name, but that was hardly surprising. He _was_ a top ranked duelist, after all. What confused him, though, was the look of awe on his face. "Yeah? And who are you?" He didn't exactly know how to respond, so he just went for brash and sarcastic; he still didn't know who this guy was, but he wasn't about to make him think he'd let his guard down. He could tell by the look in his build and the look in his eyes that he was no stranger to confrontation. Not to mention, he rode a motorcycle and had a facial tattoo. Something about him just seemed off.

"My name's Yusei. Its nice to meet you." The teen held out his hand to shake and smiled politely. Joey just eyed him wearily, not taking his hand. At that moment, Yugi and Yami came in from the kitchen, leading five other people. A tall, blonde, boy, who dressed like someone Seto Kaiba might get along with, a girl with fiery red hair, another teen who, Joey noted, had facial tattoos just like Yusei's, and two twin children, probably around eleven or twelve years old. The twin with a ponytail in his hair was the first to notice his entrance and freaked out.

" _Oh my gosh! You're Joey Wheeler! This is so cool!"_ His sister managed to restrain him as Yugi stepped over to his friend.

"Joey, hey."

"Yugi? What's going on? Who are these people?"

Yugi grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Do, ah, you remember a few months ago when your Red-eyes got stolen and I said I went to a parallel dimension to duel for the fate of the future? And there were two other people from the future that I teamed up with? And-,"

"And I thought you were telling a story until Yami said he'd been there too? Uh, Paradox, right?" Joey filled in for him, remembering. He hadn't wanted to believe at the time that his friends had had so much riding on a duel and he had been not only powerless to help, but also unaware. "What about it?"

"Well, this is Yusei. He and his friends came for a visit. Apparently, they're fans." Yugi motioned to the strangers, all looking like Serenity had that time he'd taken her to a theme park.

"I'm Leo. And I'm like your biggest fan! Well, except that I'm kinda Yusei's biggest fan . . . and Jack's pretty cool, too. Oh! And Seto Kaiba is totally awesome, as well! And-," the boy could hardly sit still. He just kept rambling, hand gestures and everything, until his sister elbowed him in the side.

"I'm sorry about him. My name's Luna, and I'm a big fan, too."

"Yeah!" Leo exclaimed, apparently forgetting that his sister ha just subtly told him to remember his manners. "Your Red Eyes Black Dragon is soo cool! And how did you come up with that combo you used with it in the National Grand Championships?"

Joey stared at him. A fan of his from the future. A future where, according to what Yugi had told him, Duel Monsters had evolved into a high-risk sport played while racing specialty motorcycles. And this kid was a fan of his- wait. "Grand what?"

Instantly, Leo, Yusei, and all their friends' eyes went big. "Y-you haven't done that yet?" Leo asked timidly.

"No-,"

"Not a word about the future. Remember what I said?" Yami raised an eyebrow.

"Yessir. I remember." The boy ducked his head. "I'm sorry. I thought he'd already done that."

"Anyway, Joey, meet Jack, Akiza, Crow, Luna, and you've already met Leo and Yusei." Yugi introduced them, and they waved or nodded in turn. "Everyone, this is Joey Wheeler."

"It's nice to meet you all. If I may, though, what brought you all back in time to us?"

"I got back to my time after the battle with Paradox, and when the others heard that I'd dueled with some of the most historical names in Duel Monsters, the Crim- uh, the thing that had sent me back the first time said he would allow our team to go back for a short visit. He said that you all might have some tips for us for future battles." Yusei explained, obviously trying not to let anything about his time slip.

"Wow. So, you all came back here looking to us for dueling tips? Awesome!"

Yami wasn't as excited. "While it is nice to see you again, you're forgetting one thing; Duel Monsters has changed a lot in just the few years it's been out, and I can tell from our duel with Paradox that the rules and techniques have continued to change as well. I don't see just how much help we can be to you."

"Well," Crow scratched one of his tattoos, "the thing is, there's this tournament coming up." Catching a look from Yami, he raised his hands. "I won't say anything about the future that you don't already know. Anyway, this tournament, it's being put on by this guy whose rising in power politically. Its kind of one of those things people do to make themselves appear more friendly and gain popular vote. We managed to find out that he's been greasing palms to get higher up the ladder, though, and a source of ours found proof that as soon as he comes into power, he's going to force the city to cut all ties with Satt- um, an . . . area. One that we are from and that would suffer greatly if it were cut off from Neo- um, the city."

"Where do we come in?" Yami leaned in, listening.

"He said he wanted to spice things up and make the competition a little harder for the contestants, so he's disqualifying anyone caught with a synchro card in their deck. We have to duel without them to win. If we manage to defeat the teams he's been sponsoring, he may offer to sponsor us. Our source says that he's had his eye on us for a while now. If we can get close enough to get solid evidence, we can get him kicked out of the running."

The room was silent for a moment as everyone thought about what they had just heard. "Just one question." Joey raised his hand. "You said your source already found proof. Why do you need to do all this?"

"Because our source isn't exactly . . . credible. He just got back in town and was hired on as a janitor at this guy's office. He refuses to go to Sect- the police for several reasons, and even if he did, this would go public and to court, and lawyers would have a field day tearing him apart. We have to get it ourselves if we want to save the Sa- area."

"Wow. So, you're doing a whole undercover ops thing? And time-travel training camp! Yugi, how come we never get to do cool things like- never mind. Forget I said anything." Joey buried his face in his hands, remembering all they _had_ done. He still had dreams about ancient Egypt sometimes.

"Its pretty cool. But there is a lot riding on us. Course, that's what we have Yusei for. Right, Yusei?" Crow smiled and wrapped his arm around the shorter teen's shoulders.

"We all have a lot of work to do if we want to win without synchros. If you remember the last time I tried to learn to duel without them, Jack ended up talking me out of it. It's not that easy."

"'Not that easy'? Pal, you're talking to a generation that doesn't even know what a synchro _is_. If anyone can teach you, it's us." Joey smirked and crossed his arms in pride.

"Imagine trying to duel without any fusion monsters. But harder. And your deck is kinda centered around them." Leo explained.

Joey's smile fell. "Okay. We've got some work to do."

"Yes, but before we begin, I have to show you something." Yami led them all into the other room. When Joey and Yugi realized where he was going, they both laughed. "This is a list of House Rules. You would be wise to follow them." He went to move out of the way, but then stopped and turned back to his list. He grabbed a pen and quickly jotted down one more. Once done with that, he stepped back and let them all read his list.

"Yugi's not allowed to have coffee?" Jack asked, unsure if he should feel respect or pity for the champion for getting through all that he had without any. There was no way he could have done that in his shoes.

"Wait. You guys actually ding-dong-ditched the Kaiba mansion? Really? That's so cool!" Leo bounced around excitedly; his childhood heroes just got that much better in his book.

"It sounds like there's a story behind rule number thirteen." Akiza giggled at the thought of how flustered Yami must have been while writing that. And what might have happened to cause such a rule.

"Hang on. Who tried to stab who with the Millennium Rod?" Luna cocked her had to the side. These were people she'd grown up learning about. It was hard for her to imagine them being so . . . human.

"I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who's ever done that to a smoothie before." Crow grinned. Yusei and Jack frowned and looked at each other.

"I think we need one of these at home." Was all the smaller teen said.

Yyyyy

Rule 28: Time travelers cannot share things about the future with us. (I never thought I would say that on here)

Yyyyy

Well, what do you know? Even time travelers have made it onto Yami's list! This was hard to come up with a beginning for, but I did it! I included Team 5Ds and had them all meet up! Also, any inaccuracies come from the fact that I have not been able to watch the movie in a long time. Let me know what you thought! Review! (And to all my reviewers, thank you so much! Almost 150 reviews! Each one I get is special to me!) The person who sends in the 150th review gets to request a oneshot from me! Thanks to all who read this story I just started on a whim! You all rock! :3


	29. A Cure

_Hic_. "Goddammit." Joey groaned. "I got the hiccups." It was lunchtime, and the gang had pulled all of their desks together into a little pod to eat. Joey, being Joey, had scarfed his food down as fast as he could. _Hic_.

"Well, that's what you get for eating like you're never going to see another meal again." Tea rolled her eyes, having told him this would happen.

"Yeah, _hic_ , yeah. Does anyone _hic_ know how to get rid of _hic-_ hiccups?"

Everyone chimed in, each with his or her own remedy.

"Drink water."

"No, stand on your head."

"I heard that holding your breath works best."

"Who told you to stand on your head? You eat sugar."

"No, no, you eat sugar while plugging your nose."

They all stopped talking, though, when Yugi stood up of his seat, glaring. A look that was usually reserved for particularly _unfriendly_ opponents. "I have an announcement! Yami and I are have decided to take the world as our own, and I know or a fact that none of you can beat us!"

" . . ."

" . . ."

" . . ."

" . . ."

"Hey, it worked! Your hiccups are gone!" Yugi smiled and sat back down.

Yyyyy

Rule 29: I doubt there will ever be an instance where Yugi and I turn evil. (Put us under surveillance again and I just might though).

Yyyyy

Yeah. This got moved to a rule. Next, though, we are going to be seeing more of Casey, since people apparently liked her! Also, thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter! You're awesome! :3


	30. Skype Fun

Hello! Greetings! Before you continue, I would just like to say that the **bold** words are English.

Yyyyy

Yugi and Joey were seated behind the counter in the game shop when it came. Proof of the coming apocalypse.

"Y-you want to know how to what?" The small duelist stammered.

Yami, knowing full well what his friends' expressions were for, scowled slightly in embarrassment and repeated himself. "I want to know how to use Skype. The computer thing?"

"Yeah, I know what it is. But why the sudden interest?"

At this, Yami bowed his head slightly, knowing what reactions were surely coming. "My penpal, Casey. She said she had something she wanted to talk to me about, but our letters don't exactly go through the mail fast enough to hold a real conversation. She asked if I would be willing to Skype with her."

Yugi smirked and Joey let out a wolf whistle, but both sat with him for over an hour to help him figure out the communication feature on the laptop the three Motous shared.

Yyyyy

Knowing, through their various correspondences, that her penpal was not exactly tech savvy (he had never told her that he was from a different time, of course), Casey had prearranged a date to call him, allowing him to get the hang of Skype. She would have called, of course, but her cellphone was in need of being replaced to the point that she could barely hear the other person on the line from another room. That, and she had also grown a bit curious about exactly _who_ she'd been talking to.

Because there was no way that her friend, Yami, who participated in duel tournaments, was the same pro-duelist her brother idolized, right? They just had the same name. Of course, she didn't exactly know how common a name like 'Yami' was, but it just _had_ to be a coincidence, right?

She took a breath and turned her computer on, praying that her brother would have at least enough mercy on her to refrain from barging in.

Yyyyy

Yami, fully aware that he was not going to be allowed any privacy during his Skype meeting (he couldn't remember what they were called. 'Calls' involved phones, while 'conversations' were face-to-face, right?), had set the laptop up on the desk in his room and was now reviewing his notes of what he would need to do to get everything working and not accidently disconnect her. When it was time, he accepted the call and saw his friend appear on the screen in front of him. She had shoulder-length brown hair, and wore a simple, yellow t-shirt. Her face had a few freckles, and he noticed that her brown eyes were angled downward. Yugi had told him that that meant she was looking at his image.

"Um, hello. You're Casey?" He was unsure if his voice was actually going to be transmitted to her all the way in America, but he saw her blink when he spoke, so she must have heard him.

"Oh, um, y-yeah. I'm Casey." She blushed and he continued on to introduce himself.

"I'm Yami Motou-,"

" **You** _ **are**_ **him**!" She realized she had just cut him off and blushed even more red. "I-I'm so sorry. I just . . . My brother is a huge fan of yours. Th-that's not why I wanted to talk, though! I wouldn't do that!" Fully aware of the fact that she had just made a fool of herself, she closed her eyes and took a breath, not wanting to see Yami's amused smile at the moment.

"Take a minute to calm down. I'm surprised that I have a fan all the way in America, though. Tell your brother that I'm honored."

"I will. And, actually, that's along the lines of what I wanted to talk about." Casey saw him raise an eyebrow in interest, and continued. "You see, Mitch, my brother, just got a job transfer to a branch office based in Tokyo. My mom's sister just had a baby, so my parents can't go with him to help him move. I'm seventeen, and speak fairly good Japanese so they decided to send me. I thought that we could maybe meet up? Tokyo is not that far from Domino, so I could stop by. If you're alright with it, that is."

"Yeah. That would be great. When are you going to be here?"

"Not for a few more weeks. Mitch still has to decide what he's taking with. And are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We can meet up at the town square, if you're worried about it being a public place." She smiled and ducked her head. Meeting with her penpal, while exiting, was also a bit scary. "And if you're worried about my safety," he smirked, "I think I've dealt with worst than a seventeen year old girl and her fanboy brother."

At that, and the fact that he managed to remain serious when he said it, she cracked up. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Did I ever tell you about the time a fan climbed out of the stands in the middle of a duel and came at my with a knife? Just to get a lock of hair?"

"I remember that. He claimed to be your biggest fan and it took four security people to subdue him." At the new voice, Yami turned around, and Casey was able to see past him. There, standing in his doorway, was a shorter, less . . . sharp? . . version of him.

"Yugi. Out, please." Yami said in an even tone. Casey was, for the moment, glad his attention was not on her. The way he spoke, both in his letters and in real life, reminded her of old stories she'd read about kings and royals. There was something regal about the way he spoke. "I said it give Joey every piece of candy in this house unless you let me talk in peace." Okay. Never mind.

"I was on my way out. I just kinda forgot my deck in here." He smiled and her heart melted. He was so cute!

"It's over there, on the dresser." Yami directed him.

"Okay. Thanks." Neither noticed the wide smile he was unable to hold in the instant he had his back turned. The teen picked up his cards, placed them smoothly into their holder, and walked to the door. Before exiting it, though, he paused and turned to the two faces watching him. "Have fun with your Skype date!" the door slammed and footsteps hurried down the stairs.

"I am so sorry for him." Yami deadpanned, already planning out ways to get his brother back. He still hadn't turned back to the screen, face too red to show.

"D-don't worry about it." Casey didn't know whether she should find the interaction cute, funny, or just a tad embarrassing. "Your brother seems nice. Yugi, right?"

"Yeah, that's Yugi." He turned his head to smile at her.

"Ironic that he lives in a game store, right?" Yami bristled and whirled around to face the _next_ new voice coming from his doorway. Grandpa was standing there, looking as proud as could be.

"Ironic? How do you mean?" He could hear Casey on the computer behind him, obviously confused.

"Grandpa, can I help you with something?" Yami tried his hardest to maintain a polite exterior, but couldn't help feeling like his family was doing this on purpose.

The elderly man snapped his fingers, as if just remembering what he had originally barged in to his grandson's room for. "I decided to go shopping to give you and your girlfriend some alone time. Do you need anything at the store?"

Yami dropped his head onto his desk with a _thud_. "No, Grandpa. I don't need anything at the store."

"Are you sure? I hear Americans are quite fond of Japanese candies."

"Grandpa. Casey and I are not dating."

"Oh, I see. Well I'll be off! You and your _not_ girlfriend have fun!" He made sure to make a big show of winking at the word 'not', before he left. Yami waited until he heard the downstairs door shut, signaling that the elderly man had left the house.

"I . . . am so sorry about that. Again."

"Don't worry about it. They seem . . . fun?" Once again, she was at a loss as to how to respond. "Well, you said they were the only ones there, right? So this won't happen agai-,"

"Casey, I thought you might like some milk and cookies." She froze as her own bedroom door swung open and her brother walked in, carrying a plate and cup. " **You can't be serious.** "

Yyyyy

Rule 30: Skype calls/conversations/meetings are private. (Casey, you might want to start one of these. They are quite helpful.)

Yyyyy

So, Casey is coming for a visit! And that also means that everyone will get to meet her in person! This was my first time writing an OC, so _please_ tell me what you thought of her. Review! :3

Requested by Sissie131!


	31. Casey

And here is Casey! Again, the **bold** words are English.

Yyyyy

Yami stared at himself in the mirror. The last time he'd gone out with a friend like this, Yugi had (kind of) dressed him, and he hadn't even known he'd been going to meet Tea until he was standing on the sidewalk.

This time, he knew he was meeting someone, and had known for at least three weeks now. There was absolutely _no_ reason why this should be happening.

" _What_ is your problem, again?" Yugi asked, not believing his ears.

"I said I don't know what to wear, alright?" Yami spun to face him, blushing crimson. "Whenever I go out, it's with you guys and I don't even have to think about how I look."

"So why are you having trouble now?" Yugi flopped down on his brother's bed and grabbed a buckled, leather wristband to play with.

"I don't know. Several reasons." Yami ran a hand through his hair and bean pacing. Currently, he was wearing his usual black tank top and dark jeans, but wasn't sure if they would be all right wear to meet Casey. "Back in Egypt, whenever I had to meet someone from another country, Father preferred us to dress in clothes that would make our guests feel comfortable. Clothing and styles from their country."

"Is that what you're trying to do here?" Yugi eyed the other items on Yami's bed with interest, suddenly realizing just how lost he must feel if that was his plan. He hadn't exactly learned all that much about America during his time in the present, having been too preoccupied with learning about Japan. And the fact that it was _modern_.

"Key word there," Yami, stressed, waved his hand at his shorter counterpart, "'trying'. I always had servants who laid out what I would be wearing to those meetings."

Yugi picked up a graphic tee Joey had gotten for the Duel king's first Christmas showing a large number of Duel Monsters magicians looking ready to attack. "Maybe you should stop thinking of her as a foreign dignitary."

"Tried that, too. Joey said that, in America, big brothers tend to get a bit overprotective of their little sisters when they go off with teenaged boys who dress in dark leather."

"Well, this is Joey. He was probably just trying to make you even more nervous than you already are."

"Tell him congratulations. He succeeded." Yami ran his hand through his hair again, and then stopped to look in the mirror. "She and Mitch landed in Japan late last night, and we are going to meet up at the festival today. Maybe I should just dress to walk around there."

"Good idea. And if you get nervous, you can just come by our booth. Speaking of which, we should head out and start getting set up."

"Alright. There's still a few hours before I have to meet Casey, so I'll give you a hand."

Yyyyy

It was 11:31 and Yami was standing by the fountain in the middle of the city, clad in a simple, dark, shirt, his regular dark jeans, and a jean jacket. He had opted to leave the leather buckles at home just in case what Joey had said turned out to be the truth. The festival going on around him was basically just a bunch of performers and booths selling food, drinks, games, and goods from various businesses in the area.

Regardless, there were a lot more people there than Yami had expected, and he was suddenly feeling guilty for having chosen the spot as their meeting point. 'I hope Casey can find her way here all right.' Looking around at the crowd once more, he noticed someone seated on the fountain wall almost on the other side of the structure from him. She was dressed in a light purple shirt and was also scanning the crowd, bobbing her head slightly to whatever was playing through her earbuds.

"Casey?" He walked over and stepped into her line of sight.

"Yami!" She jumped and ripped her music out of her ears. "Hi!" When she stood and offered her hand to shake, he noticed something that hadn't shown over Skype; she was short. And not _him_ short, either. She only came up to his shoulder. "Um, I'm Casey. Not that, you know, you didn't already know that. I just thought we should, um, introduce ourselves because this is our first time meeting in real life."

"Well in that case," Yami took her hand and shook it warmly, "hello. I'm Yami. And it's nice to meet you. I hope you weren't waiting here long."

"Don't worry about it. I left Mitch's place pretty early; partly to get out of helping him unpack, and partly just in case I got turned around. I found out on our way from the airport that I apparently have a hard time reading traffic signs when they're not on a test." They laughed and she glanced around. "What is going on here, though?"

"A street fair. There are games, entertainers, food, and a bunch of local shops have set up booths to sell merchandise. Would you like to walk around?"

"Sure! I have to leave for the airport in about two hours, but Mitch is going to pick me up here, so I'm free until then. Did your store set up a booth?"

"Yes. Yugi and a few of our friends are manning it now."

They decided to go see how the Kame Game booth was doing. However, as it was on the other side of the fair, they had to travel through the lines of stands. And who, in the middle of all that, would be able to keep one destination in mind? Less than five minutes later, Yami had mastered throwing darts into balloons and Casey was the proud new owner of a stuffed tiger she instantly named Tora.

Yyyyy

"What do you think they're doing right now?" Yugi asked, getting out some more card packs to display.

"Having more fun than me?" Joey was sorting a few piles a pair of seven-year-olds had just left. The card packs were supposed to be sorted by type, but they had refused to listen.

"Oh, come on, Joey. This is fun. And, besides," Tea was finishing a purchase for a teenaged girl, "maybe we'll be able to get a glimpse of them."

Tristan walked back up, balancing everyone's orders. "Please take what you want. I don't have enough hands to pass them all out." Everyone raided his arms for their food or drinks and turned back to the small cluster of people all either wanting to look or buy from them.

"All right, people. Let's talk later. Right now, we've got customers." Yugi said, turning back to the table.

"Got it." Joey wheeled his chair over to help. "But do you think he's going to stop by?"

"I told him to come by if he runs out of things to do."

Yyyyy

"I'm getting kind of hungry. Do you want to get something to eat?" Yami glanced around at the various food vendors. He had been able to have just a small breakfast as the Motous had had to leave early to set up their stand.

"Authentic Japanese fair food? I'm in!" They decided on taiyaki and an onigiri each then found a spot to watch a magician going through his routine.

"You look like you're having fun." Yami laughed when he looked over and noticed her trying to wipe away red bean paste from her cheek. "Here."

She blushed and took the napkin he was holding out to her. "Thanks. And yeah, I am. This is really fun! I'm so glad I came."

"Good."

Just then, the magician claimed her as his 'volunteer'.

" **Never mind. Help."**

Yyyyy

"Hey! How are you guy's doing?" Rebecca walked up to their booth.

"Hi, Rebecca. Not too bad. And yourself?" Yugi smiled at her, taking advantage of their rare lull in customers to refill and rearrange some things.

"Oh, I'm just great! By the way, I happened to see Yami earlier. I thought he was you, at first. Has anyone ever told you that you two look exactly alike from the back?"

Yugi sighed slightly. "More than you know. So what was he up to?"

"From what I saw, it looked like he had a girl with him. Someone I didn't recognize, so I don't think she's a duelist. They were helping that magician that's been wandering around catch his bunny."

"Oh, that was most likely Casey. She's a friend of Yami's visiting from America." The duelist shook his head, wondering how the pair had come about bunny-chasing.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes skeptically. "Friend from America? Yami?"

"They're penpals. She's studying Japanese and he needs to work on reading and writing the characters."

"Ah. I see."

Yyyyy

"So, what do you want to do next?" Casey asked, smiling brightly. They had left the magician and, as Yami eyed her, he realized that she had apparently gotten some sun since their Skype chat, as her freckles stood out more than he remembered.

"Well, we could . . ." She looked up in confusion as he trailed off suddenly. She followed his gaze and noticed it was directed over the heads of the people around them at the giant clock by the fountain. "Casey, what time were you going to meet your brother?"

"1:30." Her eyes grew large as she saw that the clock read 1:25. "We have to go! I can't miss my flight."

Just as she turned around, though, she bumped into a large man. A large man carrying a large drink. In less than a second, she was soaked. "Oh, I am so sorry." The man tried to apologize.

"I-it was my fault. I'm sorry." Casey blushed and attempted to squeeze as much liquid out of her shirt as possible, trying to ignore the stares of the people around her. Suddenly, something warm wrapped around her shoulders.

"We should get moving." Yami put a hand on her shoulder and guided her away from the onlookers. His jacket was now draped around her shoulders and, robotically, she pulled her arms through the sleeves.

"Thanks."

By the time they got there, Mitch had already arrived with his rental car and was scanning the crowd . . . almost desperately.

"Mitch!" She waved and got his attention. Yami wondered if it weren't out of fear that her big brother would accidently cause himself whiplash otherwise.

"Casey!" He hurried over and rapped his arms around her, then registered who she was next to. " **Y-You're really him! I'm your biggest fan! I can't- Oof!** "

He was cut off by his sister's elbow introducing itself to his side. Sharply. "Japanese, big brother. He doesn't speak English."

"Haha oh yeah. That's right. I'm sorry. My name's Mitch and I'm a big fan of yours." He ducked his head to hide his blush.

"I've heard. And I'm honored to have a fan as far away as America."

"Are you kidding? My friends and I have seen every one of your duels! Well, the televised ones, anyway. It's always so exciting! My girlfriend is more of a Joey Wheeler fan, though." He grumbled the last part, obviously not too happy with the fact. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the guy's a great duelist and all, but she's a bigger fan of _his_ dueling than she is of mine."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Joey that he's got a fan as well. But shouldn't you two be going?"

"Going? Going where?"

Casey sighed and tugged his arm in the direction of the car. "The airport, Mitch. Mom and Dad want my back in time to help Aunt Laura."

"Who? _Oh, yeah!_ We gotta go! We're going to be late! Bye, Yami! Casey, say goodbye!" He all but tossed her into the passenger side of the car and drove off, promising to give their store some business after dropping his sister off.

Yami, meanwhile, decided to see if the Kame Game booth needed any help. He began walking and only noticed once he arrived that this time he had managed to make it the entire way without getting distracted.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Yugi, Joey, and Tea greeted him upon his return.

"Pretty good. I think Casey enjoyed herself. Oh, and Joey," the blonde gave him his attention, "it appears that you have a fan in America. Mitch says she really likes your dueling."

Joey spent all of ten seconds blinking before his brain registered what that meant. "I have fans as far away as America, and as distant as the future. _Woo hoo_!" Everyone had to stand back and laugh as the teen jumped and danced around the small structure. "Ha! I bet Mr. CEO can't say that!"

"If you're talking about the 'woo hoo', than yeah. Probably not. But this is Kaiba. Yusei told me that they study his styles of dueling in the future." Tristan deadpanned, ending up in a noogie under Joey's arm for his interruption.

Tea stood back to give her friends more space, but then something caught her eye. "New toy, Yami?"

Looking down, Yami realized with a start that someone was still hanging by his side. "Tora?"

Yyyyy

"Casey, it appears that Tora forgot to get on the plane with you." Yami set the stuffed tiger on the keyboard so she could see it. It was now the day after Casey had been in Japan, but that was as soon as either had had any free time.

"I know. And I'm so sorry. He's not all I forgot." Casey, balancing her mother's laptop on her legs as she sat in her aunt's spare bedroom, reached over and held up a piece of cloth. "Your jacket is in Louisiana with me."

Yyyyy

Rule 31: Before traveling, especially abroad and for long periods of time, make sure that what you are taking with is all and only yours. (And don't worry too much about it, Casey. I hardly wore that jacket, anyways.)

Yyyyy

DOOOONNNNNNEEEEEEEE! You all have NO idea how hard it was to write this! I really like how it turned out, though! REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT! :3


	32. Home Alone?

Yami knew he was an abnormal teenager. Not just because he had been born several thousand years ago, and into a royal family, nor because of his numerous dealings with the Shadow Realm. He knew that, for most people his age, extra curricular activities included sports or clubs, while he and his friends spent their time out of school dueling for their lives, foiling kidnappers, and saving the world. For all of his differences, however, there was one thing he knew he had in common with the average teen; listening to music while he did chores.

Yyyyy

Yami and Yugi were going to be home alone for the week, as Grandpa had been called away to appear as a special guest at a seminar in Cairo. Yugi was, at the moment, off at the local arcade with Joey, leaving Yami to clean the lunch dishes. As he was home alone, he decided to bring the laptop down to the kitchen so as to listen to some music. It was a burn disk Joey had made for him a while back of some classic American songs, and he had found he quite liked some of them. While most on the CD tended to be on the loud or incoherent side, there were a select few he enjoyed putting on to help him work.

At the moment, his hands were wrist-deep in sudsy water and a personal favorite of his had just come on; Hotel California, by the Falcons- no, wait. The _Eagles_. He shook his head and began to hum the tune under his breath, imagining the scenes as they were described. Based on his own history, both recent and inscribed on stone walls, he had numerous ideas for what could be happening.

" _Mirrors on the ceiling, and pink champagne on ice,"_ He began to mutter under his breath. One would think that, after all he and his friends had been through in the past couple of years, that he wouldn't care for a song involving what sounded like so many hidden agendas, a kidnapping, a monster, and so many other people apparently unsure of their own fate, if the whole 'some dance to remember, some dance to forget' line was anything to go by, but he found himself quite taken by the song. None of his friends had heard what the story behind it was, and they each had their own ideas on the matter. That was part of why he liked it, but a bigger part might have had more to do with the fact that it made it seem like they weren't alone in the whole 'people who were not quite right in the head, but still evil geniuses luring them in with no intention of ever letting them see the sun again' department.

He was on the last dish, and the song was on it's last spoken line, when he made the quick decision to take advantage of the fact that he was the only one home at the moment. " _You can check out any time you like, but you can_ never _leave!"_ He sang the lyric out loud, and simultaneously spun and strummed an air guitar with the ladle in his hand, accidently sending a line of soap droplets over the floor, cabinets, . . . and slack-jawed face of his brother.

Both Motous stood frozen in complete and utter silence, while the song continued it's instrumental part in the background. Yugi's jaw was still hanging, and his eyes were wider than Yami had ever seen them, (and that included the time he had walked into the girls' locker room by accident back when Yami had still been in the puzzle.)

Yami cleared his throat awkwardly. "Y-Yugi. I, uh, thought you went to the . . . arcade?"

"I, yeah. I forgot my wallet. Were you just . . . singing?" He grinned broadly. And not any grin, Yami realized, feeling his heart sink even lower. No. This was the grin every older sibling knew and dreaded. It was the I-now-have-blackmail-material grin.

" . . . I have a candy bag I have been saving. I will give you the entire thing if this never happene-,"

"I thought Grandpa told you not to let me have too many sweets while he's gone. And denying something happened is the same thing as lying. And aren't you not supposed to lie?" Yugi put on his best 'Little Brother' face before snatching his wallet off of the table and taking off out the door.

Yami heaved a sigh and dropped his head. Yugi, more often now that there was no more imminent danger, was proving to be quite the little imp. And while it was admittedly a bit of a bother at times, Yami found himself more relieved the more Yugi let loose of his maturity to be the mischievous kid everyone knew was still buried inside somewhere. And that was the moment it actually sunk in; it wasn't just a cover allowing Yami to live in their house. He and Yugi were Big brother and Little brother now. And it was his job to make sure that nothing ever happened to that little imp who liked sweets and pranks and old games.

That also meant it was his job to enforce rules, such as the one he was adding to his list.

Yyyyy

Rule 32: When you say you are leaving the house, actually leave.

Yyyyy

Requested by Agyopanda.

I needed to write something silly and (hopefully) touching. This is the result of spending too much time watching Yusei over in 5D's. I hope you all enjoyed it, and review! Seriously, reviews give my so much drive to write more, and I LOVE hearing from all of you! R&R :3


	33. Bite The Vampire

"I don't understand. If you're a Slayer, why only stick to killing one thing? Isn't the point of even _having_ that job title to be able to slay whatever threatens, I don't know, whatever it is you're trying to protect?"

"Bakura, it's a show. She's a _vampire_ slayer, not a bloodthirsty psycho. And the vampires are kinda posing threats to people. So, she _is_ technically slayin-,"

"Ryou, you know as well as I do that vampires are not the only things posing threats to people." Marik deadpanned from his perch on the arm of the Motous' couch. While he would readily admit that it was fun watching the Thief get talked back to by his Hikari, he was bored. This get together, or as Malik had called it, _sleepover_ , (really? Who named it that? From what he understood, sleeping was the last thing you did) was being held at the shrimp's place, and it was crowded. The goody-goody, save-the-world crew was there, along with his own Hikari and the albinos. The mutt had brought his sister, who had mentioned to . . . that dice guy . . . _Duke_ , that she was going, which had prompted him to invite himself. And they were all going to binge-watch some show about a teenage girl running around killing vampires. And then fall asleep on the floor. Oh . . . how . . . fun.

"Could you at least _try_ to enjoy yourself? They didn't have to invite us, you know." Malik whispered harshly.

"They didn't have to invite _me_ , you mean. You're their friend. I tried to kill them." Marik leaned forward to grab a slice of one of the pizzas, before leaning back and staring stonily at the television. They had claimed to want to try being friends now that everything was (hopefully) behind them, but he didn't buy it. After all, who in their right mind would want to willingly befriend someone they shared the kind of history with that they did. No. It was a ruse. He was well aware of that fact.

Yyyyy

Yugi shot upright with a start. He must have dosed off doing his homework again. But what had woken hi-

 _Thump_

His heart nearly stopped. Outside his door, something was moving. He tried to quiet his breathing, but the more the sudden silence reigned, the more it seemed like he couldn't breathe, and thus had to take in more air. The thud came again, but in the form of a body slamming against his bedroom door.

" _Buffy! It found us!_ " Yugi whirled around, shocked that there was someone else in the room with him. He didn't even notice the name she'd called him, just the fact that she looked familiar. Upon hearing the words, however, the vampire (how did he know that? On second thought, he'd worry about that later) doubled it's efforts to get in.

"Don't worry, Willow." Yugi felt his mouth move without his consent, reassuring the girl. "Help me find something to fight it off with. I'll distract it, and as soon as I do, you climb out the window and go for help. Can you do that?" He watched her nod, and then saw her eyes widen as the door splintered open. He felt a familiar sense of panic and determination to protect a friend as he instinctively reacted and threw himself at the creature, knowing that it was by far going to be one of his toughest battles yet.

Yyyyy

"Oof, sorry." Marik muttered under his breath. He had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and was now attempting to find his way back to his blanket without stepping on anyone. "I should have had the Pharaoh do this for a Shadow Game. Step over sleeping creatures in the dark and try not to wake them. That would have been fun to see-," he was cut off from his quiet musings when a body tackled him to the floor. He just managed to avoid landing on Wheeler's half-socked feet, but as soon as his head hit the wooden floorboards, he wished he'd have had the cushion.

"Run." The figure mumbled, now reaching for his throat, "Run. I got it."

" _Yugi?!"_ Marik thrashed around, grabbing the tiny wrists in self-defense. What the heck was going on? Yugi had, unexpectedly, some muscle on his body, so it wasn't that easy to restrain him. "Shrimp! What the hell? Get a grip!"

Yyyyy

"Buffy! Get him!" Willow called from the windowsill. Why wasn't she going for help?

"Run!" He employed as much strength as he could muster and held his opponent to the ground. "Run! I got this!" Or maybe not, as it now seemed that the vampire caught his wrists and was about to turn the tables. Well, he _was_ a vampire slayer, after all. He could not let himself be taken down by this lone beast.

Yyyyy

" _Ouch! What the hell! Letgoletgoletgo!"_ Marik thrashed on the ground, trying to detach Yugi's teeth from his arm. Their scuffle finally began to wake some of the other guests, including Joey, who instantly grabbed Yugi and pulled him off the former psychotic spirit now caught in his teeth. " _Stopstop! He hasn't let go! My arm!"_

"Yug! Snap out of it! Wake up!" Joey gave his buddy a quick shake, managing to dislodge Marik's arm, which was immediately tended to by Malik, Tea, and Serenity.

"Mhn?" Yugi grunted, looking around and wondering what he was doing suspended two feet off the ground. "J-yawn-oey? What's goin' on?"

The blonde sighed and placed him back on the ground, where he instantly forgot why he had been awake in the first place and settled instead for falling back to sleep. In Joey's spot.

"Are you alright?" Tristan asked Marik as he and Duke helped him into a nearby kitchen chair, giving his nurses more light to work.

"Um, yeah." He replied awkwardly. The bite had very nearly broken the skin, but wasn't bad enough to go to the hospital. There was some bruising where the teeth had slipped when Joey had come to his rescue, though, and that was being tended to at the moment.

"What happened?" Yami asked, having never seen Yugi behave so violently before, (well, to another person, that is. Zombies were another matter.)

"I don't know. His eyes were closed the whole time, and it was like he was talking to someone who wasn't there."

Everyone froze momentarily, worried that another spirit had somehow managed to posses their kind and tiny friend. Everyone but Joey, who had apparent experience in the matter.

"I know what happened. And Yami, you let Yugi have pizza before bed again, and we're going to have words. Got it?" In the other room, Yugi could be heard walking around again, bumping into things.

Yyyyy

Rule 33: Sleepwalking is no excuse for murder. (Even if pizza and Buffy were involved.)

Yyyyy

Requested by PhantomBrat.

YAY! DO YOU ALL SEE THIS? TWO UPDATES IN TWO DAYS! And I have ignored my alarm clock again.

Alright, it is nearing that time once again, so here it goes: WHOEVER IS MY 200TH REVIEWER GETS TO CHOOSE A ONE-SHOT FOR ME TO WRITE FOR THEM! So, please drop a review and tell me what you thought of this! R&R :3


	34. Wish You Were Small

Some people were tall, some were not. Yami was not, according to Joey. And Tristan. And Tea, (though she would never say it out loud.) The fact of the matter was; tall people were under the impression that short people were at a disadvantage. While that held true for some things, though, the tall breed tended to forget that shorter people have been able to survive without their help, and even against them, for generations. And now, finding that something of his had once again been 'accidently' placed out of his reach, he decided that it was finally time to call out the troops. It was now war.

Yyyyy

"I don't understand. We're doing a prank war?" Rebecca cocked her head to the side, Teddy mimicking her. Everyone pretended to have not seen her hand move is head.

"Kind of."

"A prank war for short people?" Yugi had to have clarification. This was a bit unusual coming from his usually composed brother.

"Short people versus tall people." Yami nodded. "We're going to show them that we can hold our own, not just despite our size, but because of it."

"Are the tall people aware of what they've been volunteered to participate in?" Mokuba raised his hand. "Because my brother tends to be pretty good at prank wars."

"Yeah, and can any short people join in?" A nasally voice from the shop's doorway made them all turn in surprise. Rex and Weevil stood there, grinning from ear to ear. "You really shouldn't have conversations you wish to remain secret in places open to the public."

The four glanced at each other, and then sighed. "I take it you want in?" Yami deadpanned.

"Correction; we _are_ in. Unless you want us telling Wheeler, Taylor, Devlin, and whoever else we can think of while we're at it." Rex sneered with pride, ecstatic for having just blackmailed the King Of Games and his friends.

" . . . Fine. But you're going along with what _we_ decide."

Yyyyy

"Master Mokuba, are you sure this is alright? I don't think your brother will be to keen on the idea."

"That's why I didn't tell him."

"You what?! But, but-"

"I've already sent Kemo out to get the supplies, and Seto will be staying out late tonight. If you want, I'll tell him you had nothing to do with it, but right now, we need to work fast. This house is big and we have a lot of ground to cover."

" . . . I should have taken a job waiting tables."

Yyyyy

"We should have done this long ago." Yugi laughed, handing a few more mugs down to Yami. "I'm glad Grandpa was alright with this."

"I think he was just happy to hear that he wouldn't have to reach so far to get things." Yami took them and out them in their new place.

They had decided what each person/pair would do earlier that morning, and everyone was now putting their plans to work.

"Should we do the shop, too?"

"Well . . . it's only for today. Let's hurry."

Yyyyy

"Alright people, that one goes over there, and those can be put at the table. You, there! I said those ones were supposed to go down to the garage!" Rebecca and Teddy were ordering the deliverymen around, making sure their equipment was exactly where the items they were replacing had been. Everything being brought in was rented, but seeing how the house looked now, she wished it could stay this way for a lot longer.

Yyyyy

"Bonus. Two for the price of one." Rex whispered into Weevil's ear. They were crouched down behind a display rack in the Black Crown, watching as Mai walked over to talk to Duke. It was near closing time, so there weren't any other customers.

"You know what to do, right?" The insect duelist whispered back. The two had come up with their own prank and completely ignored everything the other pranksters had suggested, but felt that their efforts would not be in vain.

"Of course I do. Now, let's find the security room."

Yyyyy

"Rebecca, I'm home!" Arthur called, shutting the front door behind him.

"In here, Grandpa! Welcome back!" His pig-tailed granddaughter greeted from the dinning room.

He entered the room, and froze. It took a second longer than he would have liked to admit for him to realize what was wrong. "What on earth?" Rebecca was busy having a tea party with Teddy and a few other stuffed toys around the table, but that was hardly unusual. What _was_ , however, was the fact that the table, chairs, and as he now realized, almost every piece of furniture in the house, had been shrunk down to her size.

"Is something wrong, Grandpa?" She asked innocently.

"What, what is going on? I suddenly feel like a giant." He sank down in shock onto a nearby stool, almost falling over when he found that it was much farther away than he had expected.

"I just thought the house should be my-sized for a day. It's actually really fun. And aren't you always saying that you have to look at things from all angles?" She walked over and handed him a cup of tea, freshly brewed by her bunny.

The elderly man sighed, laughed, took the cup and decided that, out of all the things he had done in his long life, raising his young girl had to be one of his most surprising adventures. There were no runes or riddles hinting at what might be coming next.

Yyyyy

"Are you three going to be staying for dinner?" Yugi asked his guests as he and Joey wrapped up another duel.

"If that's alright with you." Tea shuffled her deck, getting ready for her turn to go against Tristan.

"Of course. How does spaghetti sound?"

"Great!" Joey grinned. Yugi was getting to be quite the cook.

Yami, who had been upstairs in the shower, came down, towel-drying his hair. "Would you like some help, Yugi?"

"No thanks. You can duel for me, though."

Yami had enough time to watch Tristan get beat (rather comically) by Tea, and come out on top in a duel of him against his three friends before dinner was ready. They headed into the kitchen to see Yugi already seated at the table, eating his dinner. Having known the layout of the kitchen for years by this time, they all headed over to get their own bowls and dish up. All but Yami, who chose to stand back and watch the fun. And, sure enough, the reaction was immediate.

"Where are all of your dishes?" Joey looked around, then stuck his head into the cabinet.

"And your cups?" Tea had opened another cabinet.

"The heck? All of your cupboards are empty. What's going on?" Tristan, along with their other friends, turned to the Motous in confusion.

"We moved everything. Since things keep getting put out of our reach, for today, you won't find a single thing in this house or shop that is above waist height. Think of it like a treasure hunt." Yugi grinned broadly.

"Wait, this is only for today? Aww, you got me excited." Grandpa, suddenly appearing in the room, frowned.

Yyyyy

Seto Kaiba was not, by any means, alert at the moment. Had Mokuba known just how late his big brother would be that night, he wouldn't have done anything. But, as it was, it was too late to take anything down. Because of this, and his exhaustion, Kaiba didn't realize until he had walked into about three or four boards that all of the doorways in the house had been lowered. They had been done in such a way that the door was still able to close, he was just not able to get through without ducking.

"Welcome home, -yawn- big brother." Mokuba didn't even raise his head from the couch where he lay, almost asleep as it was.

The young CEO sighed, figuring he could get an answer out of his vice-president in the morning. For now, he just picked him up and carried him up to bed, having to duck under every doorway he came to. If only this kind on thing were a rarity; carrying his brother to bed while dodging some homemade trap or prank. But then again, he knew that as soon as Mokuba stopped, it would mean he was growing up, and there was nothing he eared more.

Yyyyy

The screens posted around the store, once blank, as it was the end off the day, simultaneously came to life.

"I thought I told them to turn those off." Duke, breaking out of his conversation with Mai, growled.

"I'm not so sure it's your guys who turned those on." She turned around slowly, seeing that the same message was displayed on all screens. "Unless, of course, you have someone who's trying to get canned." Dancing across each one were the words, 'Short people rule the world'.

Together, they hurried to the security room, where the monitors were controlled from, but found the door wide open and the room empty.

"Whoever it was, they must be gone now." Mai frowned.

"Yeah." Duke agreed, then eyed the control computer. After a minute to think it over, he silently walked over and replaced 'world' with 'stepladders'.

"You couldn't resist, could you?"

"No."

Yyyyy

Rule 34: We are hereby banned from revolting against tall people. (In my defense, you've done worse things out of boredom.)

Yyyyy

Prank chapter! What did you all think? And I incorporated some new characters! Also, I was very sleep-deprived when I wrote this.

We are almost at 200 reviews, people! Remember that my 200th gets to request a one-shot! But because of that, it won't count if there is no way for me to PM you, so please sign in.

I'll see you all next time, and don't forget to R&R! Reviews really make me write more. :3


	35. A Whole New World

The sun was shining when Yami woke up. He didn't open his eyes at first, wanting to savor the last lingering tendrils of relaxation before he had to start the day. Sighing softly, he reached out for his blanket, only to find that it wasn't there. Instead, his hand came in contact with something long and wooden. A stick? No, too smooth.

He opened his eyes and found with a shock that not only was he not in his room, he wasn't sure he was even in Japan. He was lying under a huge tree he hadn't ever seen before, head resting on an aboveground root. The leaves, from what he could tell, were enormous. Just one would be enough to hide almost half of his body. Looking around, he realized that it wasn't just this tree. He was in a forest of them. And everything he saw, from the long-legged, flying bug, and the fire-red bush that seemed to be growing out of a rock, to the twisted, winding plants that appeared to be some combination of a lily and a wandering vine, he found he had never seen or heard of before.

"Where am I?" He wondered aloud, slightly startled to hear the sound of his own voice, as the forest was unnaturally silent. Sitting up led to the discovery that, not only was he nowhere recognizable, he was not wearing his own clothes. His feet were clad in thick leather and bound with straps, while he had on a long, dark green robe, presumably for blending in with his surroundings. Next to him, apparently what he had grabbed while still half-asleep, was a staff. It came up to his chin when he stood up, and was made from some dark wood. The top was shaped like a lightning bolt, and there were symbols and runes carved into the entire length of it.

"Are you a new wizard?" A squeaky voice asked.

Whirling around, Yami searched for who had spoken, but couldn't see anyone. "Who are you?"

"If you don't know how to use your magic yet, you should run. There's a fight coming this way."

"Fight? Between who? Where am I?" Yami spun in circles, scanning the branches above his head, where the voice was coming from. The thing that scared him, though, was the fact that it had not sounded human. Like it was . . . some sort of creature.

"Nope nope. We go now. Danger. You stay and die." Another squeaky voice, this time slightly younger-sounding, came down from the invisibility of the branches. "They distracted by your corpse. We live. Goodbye now." There was the skittering of tiny claws and something brushing against leaves as they both retreated.

As soon as they were gone, Yami heard the sound of metal striking metal and large bodies rushing in his direction. Desperately, he dove behind a nearby, thick, bush to hide. He hoped he could figure out what was going on and be able to return home. While he was thinking, though, several things happened all at once.

A knight astride a saddled . . . something (it looked like a cross between a bear and a wingless dragon) rode in, exchanging sword strikes with a . . . hold on a minute. Something was _definitely_ wrong here. Was that a zombie on mummy-horseback? Before he could get over his shock, however, the bush stood up and ran behind him to hide.

 _Shiink_

" _Gwwwuuuuuaaaaarrrrrrgle"_ The zombie cried out in agony as the knight managed to strike at his unguarded chest. The sword made it through a good amount of its ribcage before stopping, but that was apparently far enough to render the undead fighter, well, dead. Re-dead? Would he be able to become re-undead?

"Who are you? State your business or I will remove you rom these lands by any means necessary."

Yami didn't respond. Not because he didn't know what to say (though that may have been part of it), but because he recognized the voice. The knight was facing away from him, still towards the grounded corpse of his opponent, and had a hood covered his head, but Yami didn't need to see him to know who he was.

"Yugi?" Wait. Did that mean he had just seen Yugi kill? Not to mention the fighting and the strange mounts and his unnatural skill. Where was he?

"How do you know my name?" The zombie at his feet gave a sudden, violent twitch, and Yugi instantly brought his sword down on it again. "Stupid things. Always gotta kill'em twice before they get the message."

"Yugi? What's . . . where are we?" Yami stood and the bush yelped and ran off.

Yugi turned to face him, and Yami was shocked to see that, while he was obviously his brother, he looked different. His ears were longer and pointed, and his hair was just one solid color; brown. His eyes were emerald and appeared to have a light shining from behind them. "You still haven't told me how you know my name."

"I'm Yami. Your brother, remember?" He tried raising his hands up in a sign that he wasn't a threat, seeing the hard stare directed at him. As soon as he did, however, Yugi narrowed his eyes and his hand flew back to his now sheathed sword. Yami, forgetting about the staff, had accidently raised it in the air, leading Yugi to believe he was about to attack.

"I am no brother to a _wizard_." Yugi spit out. "The Elven Guard has had nothing to do with creatures such as yourself for over fifty years. Now, what are you doing on our lands?"

"I, uh, have no idea. I just woke up here." Yami backed away as the elf advanced threateningly.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid. A-at all." The zombie's mount, a horse covered in mummy wrappings and dripping flesh and . . . other things, had just been wandering around nervously since its rider was killed. As Yami was backing away, the tip of the staff inadvertently pointed directly at the beast, and suddenly the lost teen found himself linked mentally to it.

It was a weird feeling, but he was hearing thoughts in his head that weren't his own. He had shared a mind with Yugi for long enough to know what was happening, but this creature wasn't like his brother. It thought in pictures, or smells, or feelings, not words. He knew he was upset that his rider was . . . re-dead, and wary of the swordelf that had done him in, but had seen enough conflict to not be panicking and bolting. It took just a few seconds to take all of this in, and to reach a decision. Yugi was going to attack him, that much was obvious. He had to get away.

 _'Come here!'_ he commanded, trying to send as much urgency through his mental link as possible. If the animal was too slow, Yugi might catch on to what he was doing and put and end to it. The result was immediate. The mummy-horse turned and bolted towards him, not even pausing as he grabbed onto the saddle and hoisted himself up. The stench was rancid, and he could see the decay a lot better this close up, but he didn't hesitate a moment as he grabbed the reins and dug his heels in, urging the beast to go faster. The elf (he refused to think of him as 'Yugi' anymore) yelled in rage behind them. He didn't look back once.

When his adrenaline no longer outweighed his sense of smell, he pulled his mount to a stop and slid off. Choking and taking a few deep breaths, once he was out of range of the mummy-horse, of course, he sat down next to a bush with a log growing straight up out of it, almost like an upside down tree. The horse began nibbling on some low-hanging fruit nearby.

"First time on an _undequine_?" Asked a voice beside him. He jumped, whirled around, and clutched his staff. A large, golden, dog stood just a few feet away from him. It looked like a stray golden retriever, but was at least three times as large as one. Its fur was dirty and slightly matted, but its honey-gold eyes were as bright as day.

"A what?" Yami asked.

" _Undequine._ You know, un-dead-equine. I know they're rare, but I figured that most people had at least heard of them."

" . . ."

"What's with that look?"

"Joey?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Long story. Where am I?" Yami looked around, seeing much of the same foliage, with a few more interesting species, such as the moss-green, large-eared mouse near them, and the willow-looking tree dangling fruits of all colors.

"We're in the elf kingdom territory. What, are you new around here?"

"Kind of." Yami sighed and shook his head. This was all just insane. The horse- _undequine_ stopped eating and turned his head back in the direction they had come from, ears perked. Yami recognized the stance vividly from his time riding them in Egypt. He heard something coming for them.

"Something's coming this way." Joey narrowed his eyes. The _undequine_ whinnied and bolted off into the trees just as Yugi, astride his dragon-bear, burst through the foliage.

"You thought it would be that easy to escape me, Wizard?" He caught sight of Joey and his expression turned to one of shock. "The Halfling."

Yami looked at Joey, only to see him lowering himself to the ground and baring his teeth. "You two know each other?"

"His king is just one of the people looking to make me an exhibit. I'm the last of my species, so they want to put me on display."

"Are you trying to say you don't know what he is?" The elf asked.

"If ya want to live, get on my back!" Joey commanded. Yami grasped his fur and swung his leg over the broad back.

"Stop!" Yugi unsheathed his sword and ran at them. Joey took two big leaps, soared over Yugi, and didn't land.

Yami turned around as much as he dared, and was shocked to see two huge dragon wings flapping and keeping them in the air. "What are you?" He yelled over the rushing wind.

"A dragon-dog. You really aren't from around here, are you?"

"No, I'm not-," Yami was cut off as a heavy weight crashed into them. Joey dropped several feet before he managed to catch himself. Up above them, hovering on his dragon-bear, was the elf.

"You aren't getting away this time!" He hollered, brandishing his blade and urging his mount into a dive directly at them.

" _Hold on tight!"_ Joey yelled as they braced for impact. There was no way they were going to avoid it-

"Yami!"

Yyyyy

Yami gasped and jerked awake. A familiar face was just inches above his own.

"You looked like you were having a bad dream." Yugi tilted his head to the side.

"You were an evil elf who tried to kill me and enslave Joey in the name of your king. And I rode on a mummy-horse with a weird name." Yami didn't even think as he recited everything in monotone.

Yugi stared at him incredulously for a few moments, then doubled over in laughter. "Yami, would this have anything to do with that radio show you were talking about yesterday? The one doing a segment on creatures of fantasy worlds?"

"Umm, maybe."

Yyyyy

Rule 35: Be careful choosing what radio programs you listen to before bed.

Yyyyy

I don't even know what happened here. I wanted to do a Fantasy Special as a little treat. Also, I had severe writers block and want to send out a big THANK YOU to A-Helping-Hand-Of-Fire for helping this take place!

Please let me know what you thought of this! I love reading everyone's reviews, and they really do a lot to get me writing more!


	36. Vacation Activities

Greetings! As always with my Casey chapters, the **bold** words are in English. Enjoy!

Yyyyy

 _Dear Yami,_

 _It was so much fun visiting you in Japan! I know everyone always says that the best way to learn about a culture is to experience it in person, but I guess that never really sunk in until I spent the day there. Thank you so much for showing me around, and, again, I'm sorry for swiping your jacket. (Did you really add me onto your rule list?)_

 _Oh, yeah. I won't be able to respond to your letters for a little while, because my family is going up to a cabin for vacation. There's no mail service or Internet, so I'll respond to your letter when I get back home._

 _Mom says it's going to be fun for us all to relax in the wilderness, but Mitch is coming home and bringing along some friends he met in Japan, so I'm not so sure how relaxing it's going to be (sweatdrop)._

 _On the other hand, Dad and Mitch make the_ best _BBQ burgers, and there's a small town nearby, so maybe a tiny-overcrowded-cabin family vacation won't be so bad._

 _I hope you're doing well, and goodbye until next time. (And speaking of next time, I hope I get to meet your friends at some point.)_

 _-Casey_

Yami finished reading the letter and smiled. Storing it carefully back in its envelope, he set it on his desk and turned back to his suitcase, zipping it up.

"You almost ready to go?" Yugi asked, dragging is own suitcase into his brother's room. "Mitch is here."

Yyyyy

"I'm not saying I'm not happy to visit America again, and go on a free vacation, but why? I mean, you didn't have to pay for our tickets, Mitch."

Joey said to the American in the front seat.

"Actually, I didn't. My boss overheard me say I was going home for the week, and suggested I take you five along with. He heard that I know you, and that you're friends with my sister."

"Your boss?" Yami narrowed his eyes, already having been suspicious about the sudden trip. "Who is he? And why send us to America?"

"Oh, I think he's a friend of yours. Whenever you're on TV, he's usually with you. Seto Kaiba. He said that with you gone for a while, maybe his doorbell would stop ringing. I just think it's great how you guys can go over and hang out with him whenever you want, y'know? He seems like he needs more friends."

"Doorbell?" Yami turned to face the suddenly wide-eyed faces of Joey, Tea, and Tristan. "Have you three still not learned your lesson?"

"Uh, never . . . back down from a challenge?" Joey tried, much to Mitch's confusion.

"What's going on back there?"

Yyyyy

Yami knocked on the door to the cabin in lot number nine, where Mitch said he was supposed to meet up with his family. He and his friends had been checked into a nearby hotel, but Mitch had wanted to drop off his things, and Yami decided to say hello to Casey since he was there.

There was silence inside the wooden structure for a minute, and Yami almost turned around to ask Mitch if he was sure they were at the right cabin. The moment he went to, though, the door swung open.

" **Hey Mitch** -," Casey's eyes half-lidded and she was clad in sleepy Baby Dragon pajama pants and a black tank top. Her hair was in two braids, but still sticking out at all angles, while a toothbrush dangled from the corner of her mouth. She blinked at him for a moment, face never changing, then calmly closed the door. The inside was silent for several long seconds, during which time Yami contemplated knocking again, but then Casey's voice could be heard. " **Mom, I thought you said your tea had caffeine in it."**

 **"It does. Why?"**

 **"Because Mitch suddenly looks a lot like my friend Yami."**

Yami, of course, was only able to understand a few words, but clearly heard his name. Not sure if she was upset with his sudden arrival or not, he turned to Mitch, to see that the man was stepping by him and through the front entrance.

"C'mon, guys."

"Are you sure it's alright for us to just walk right in?" Tea asked, concerned.

Mitch turned and grinned at her. "This is my family. Of course I'm sure. **Mom, Dad, Casey, we're here!"**

 **"Mitch! You made it!"** A woman in her mid-forties jogged up to him and wrapped him in a big hug. " **And are these your friends?"** She asked, smiling at Yami and the others.

" **Yes, they are. But they hardly speak English, so do you think we could speak Japanese while they're here?"**

"Of course." She stepped past her son and held out her hand for them to shake. "Hello and welcome. My name is Linda. You've already met Casey and Mitch, and my husband, Jacob, is out back. Are you going to be staying here with us?"

"No, we have a hotel in the town nearby that we're checked into. It's nice to meet you, too. My name is Yami, and this is my brother, Yugi, and our friends, Joey, Tristan, and Tea."

Suddenly, a gasp sounded from the doorway of the small bathroom just a few feet away. Casey stood there, still disheveled, but looking more alert, if her bulging eyes were anything to go by. "I wasn't dreaming. You're really here. What the eff?" She shook her head, and then seemed to realize just what she was wearing, and blushed darker than Yami's eyes. "I'm gonna, uh, go change now." She mumbled.

Yyyyy

"Do you think Casey's alright with us just showing up like we did?" Yami asked Tea, figuring she might know, being another girl and all. They were now getting settled in their hotel rooms, the boys pairing up, while Tea got her own room.

"Well, being caught by friends first thing in the morning would embarrass _any_ girl, but if you've been friends for this long, I'm sure she'll end up being fine. Then again, I've never really met her before myself, so I can't say. If I have any advice to give, though, apologize and see how far that gets you."

"That sounds like a good idea. Thanks." He stood and was about to head for the door when someone knocked on it. He opened it and was not prepared for who was on the other side. "Casey?"

She wore hiking shorts and a shirt that read 'How to keep a moron busy (see other side)', and had brushed her hair back into a low ponytail. "Hi. I'm sorry about earlier. I just didn't expect to wake up and see you at my door. Mitch told me that you're here on vacation."

"Umm, yeah. It's no problem. And I'm sorry for not letting you know we were coming."

"Don't worry about it." She smiled.

"Hi, my name's Tea. Its nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to finally meet you, too. I've heard so much about you." Casey grabbed Tea's outstretched hand and shook it happily.

"Likewise. Though, if you don't mind me asking, I noticed your family seems to speak pretty fluent Japanese."

"And you're wondering why I'm learning how to speak Japanese in school? My grandmother is Japanese, so we all know some. I've always had a hard time understanding it, though. That, and, my only other option for a foreign language was Spanish and I don't exactly have time to finish high school while learning a third language."

"Ah, I see."

The three of them, along with Yugi, Tristan, and Joey, headed back to Casey's family's cabin. As Casey introduced herself to the boys, Yami caught sight of the back of her shirt. 'How to keep a moron busy (see other side)'. Curious, and having a sense that he had read that somewhere before, he quickened his gait to see what was printed on the front of her shirt.

Yyyyy

"You can stop blushing now, Yami." Joey said, attempting to hide his remaining snickers. "We're done laughing."

They were back at the cabin, waiting outside with Mitch and Jacob while Casey was inside with her mother. "You boys like burgers, don'tcha?" He opened the lid of the grill, laughing as Yugi's eyes went as large as the patties he was setting on the rack. "I'll take _that_ as a yes."

"Who wants to help me gather firewood?" Mitch called.

Tristan took one look at the cold fire pit, and then turned towards the lit grill. "We're making a fire, too?"

"You can't make s'mores that, y'know. Well, you can, but it's more fun when you're able to sit around and tell campfire stories." The young man hopped up on a nearby stump to lace up his hiking boots.

"Tristan and I will come." Joey wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders and led him after the American.

"You can learn how to fry these up, alright kid?" Jacob handed Yugi a spare spatula.

"And, I thought I could return the favor for showing me around Domino City." Casey exited the house and made her way over to the outdoor dining table, setting down buns and napkins. Tea and Linda were behind her, each carrying hotdog and burger toppings, along with plates, drinks, and fruit. "While lunch is being made, what say I give you a tour of the town? I guarantee you it's nothing like the city."

"Are you sure?"

"Go on, Yani." Jacob smiled at him. "We're going to be cooking up more than just these four burgers. Lunch won't be ready for a while."

"Um, Dad." Casey closed her eyes and held up a hand. "His name is Yami." She turned to her Japanese friend and nodded to the road. "So, you want to go? I'll lead this time."

"Alright." The hotel he and his friends were staying in was located in that town, but he hadn't been able to get a very good look at it yet. As he followed after her, he realized with a bit of embarrassment that she was now wearing a shirt emblazoned with a large drawing of a sunflower.

Yyyyy

"Every game. Every. Single. Game. What lab were you created in? _No one_ is that good." Casey stretched her arms above her head, wincing in the suddenly bright sun contrasting the dim lights of the retro arcade they had just left.

"Well, I told you I was the King of Games. You had it coming." Yami adjusted the small backpack he had brought along for souvenirs. They had exchanged their tokens for prizes before leaving, and combined them in the pack to be divided up among the rest of the group upon their return.

"Yeah, well, I've been playing pinball since I was a kid. I thought that would at least give me a leg up."

"Yeah, no. Sorry. Do you think we should be heading back now?"

She laughed. "Yami, you've asked that after every place we've been to. I know how long it takes my dad to finish when he's making barbeque. We've got some ti-,"

" _Casey!"_ One moment she had been beside him, and the next, she was across the road. "What are you doing?" Yami (making sure to check for cars first) followed her up to a strange white van.

"My mom and I had been looking into getting a new pet. You need to talk me out of this." Casey didn't even look at him, choosing instead to focus on the glass window on the side of the vehicle under a sign announcing a pet adoption sale.

The creature she had locked eyes with was a cat. A shorthaired, black and white, male cat. His nametag read 'Mouser', and the description simply stated that a factory had owned him for the sole purpose of keeping out the rodents, hence his name. After being deemed a security risk, however, the owner had caught him and turned him over to a local shelter.

"Do . . . you speak . . . English?" A young woman wearing a shirt bearing the logo of the shelter asked in broken Japanese, obviously not sure what she was going to do if the answer was 'no'.

 **"Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes, I do. He's visiting, though, and only knows a few words."** Casey replied.

" **Are you interested in Mouser, here? He's very affectionate. The workers used to feed him all the time, so he's had no lack of human attention."**

 **"I . . . my family has been looking to get another cat ever since our last one died six months ago. He looks so sweet."**

Casey put a finger against the glass and watched as Mouser tried to sniff it. "Casey, this isn't a good idea. And we need to be getting back." While the entire conversation was going on, though, Yami refused to look anywhere in the general direction of the animals. There were a few dogs present as well, but the cats were the main problem. They were a weakness of his, but Casey needed to be talked out of walking away with one. He couldn't be encouraging her.

 **"I'm sorry. We should be going."** Casey told the woman, turning reluctantly away from the feline. The two were just starting to walk away when Yami made the fatal mistake of looking back. Mouser had placed both front paws on the glass wall and was staring straight at him.

" _Maaoooo."_

" . . ."

" . . ."

 **" . . . a** **nd here are his new collar and kennel, and a week's worth of food. And these papers show that he's currently up to date on all his vaccinations. I know you're going to love having him in the family. Bye bye, Mouser!"** the woman, Pat, sang as the three of them walked off, wondering somewhat what had happened.

Yyyyy

"So, let me get this straight." Casey sighed, head still where it had dropped into her hands. "My family vacation became a teenage culture lesson involving you and your friends."

"Yes." Yami replied through the Skype camera.

"My brother got two of your friends lost in the woods."

"That's right."

" _Your_ brother somehow got the job of spraying my dad with the fire extinguisher every time he caught the food on fire."

"I thought you said he was good at barbeque."

"Burgers. He's good with burgers. And Mitch is usually helping him. Anyway, my mother and your friend Tia- _Tea_ , sorry, managed to swap upwards of twenty recipes while left alone."

"Tell your mother to be careful with her _Takoyaki_ , though. Tea's still working out the kinks in that one."

"Too late. That was last nights dinner. We brought home a cat, and you managed to learn how to change a flat tire on the way back to the airport."

"Correct. How's Mouser doing, by the way?"

The cat, hearing his name, hopped up onto Casey's computer desk and began pawing at Yami's face on the screen in confusion. "He's fine. Now, back to the important business. After all that, _what_ did you put as a rule on your list?"

Yami put his hands in his pockets and looked away. A split second later, though, he pulled something out from his jacket and held it up in surprise.

" _That's_ where it is?! You took Mouser's collar with you to Japan?"

"Whoops."

" _Maoo."_

Yyyyy

Rule 36: No coming home with new pets. (This rule can be overlooked if cats are involved) (Yami, don't. Just don't.)

Yyyyy

LONGEST CHAPTER YET! I hope you all enjoyed it! This is the last Casey chapter I have planned for a little while, but never fear, she and her brother will be back! Review and tell me your thoughts!


	37. Bakura's Revenge

Yami and Yugi, much to the disbelief of their friends, did not use hair products. Sure, they used shampoo and conditioner (Yami had taken a little time to learn about how and why he had to utilize them, as in his era, there had not been so many hair-care necessities), but had no use for gels or sprays. Their hair, as much as neither of them could understand it, just always stood up on its own. Which, considering how many times the pair and their friends had slept outside, or been woken up first thing in the morning, was still a mystery.

At first, when Yugi had been a child, he would try to brush it down. Now that he was older, though, he actually saw it as a part of himself. Unfortunately, neither one was exempt from having bad hair days. Especially when one had revenge hanging over his head.

Yyyyy

"Yami?" Yugi called through the bathroom door. "Is everything alright? You've been in there almost forty minutes now."

"I, ah, I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute." Yami's flustered voice came through the door.

"Are you sure? You don't usually take this long."

"I'm sure. " Yugi then heard the unmistakable sound of his partner sigh. "Just out of curiosity, you remember telling me that Bakura could very easily get into this house, right?"

" . . . Yeah, why?"

There was a pause, and then the bathroom door swung open. "Please don't say you told me so. I'm fully aware of the fact."

Yugi could only stare. Yami's long, iconic, star-shaped hair was dripping wet . . . and hanging around his shoulders. "What . . . what happened?"

"I'm fairly certain Bakura did something to my shampoo."

Yyyyy

"This will look good on you until your hair goes back to normal." Grandpa pulled out a spare bandana and deftly tied it around his grandson's head. Yami, ignoring the extra attention focused on his head, just took another bite of his toast.

"Grandpa, he looks kinda like a hoodlum now. I don't think you want him behind the till today like that."

"Thank you, Yugi. That really helps." He finished his breakfast and put his plate in the dishwasher. "And thanks, but no thanks, Grandpa." He handed the black cloth back to the elder.

Yyyyy

"Yami, I got this. Don't you worry, pal." Joey bounded over behind the counter and helped himself to his friend's head. "Tea, go down to the corner store and buy some hair ties." Without another word, he got to work grabbing small clumps of hair and fiddling with them until Tea got back.

"Is this enough?" She asked, handing them over.

"Yeah, that'll be good. Just need to tie these off now. And done." He tied the last clump of hair off and held up Tea's make-up mirror. "What do you think?"

" . . . I look like that dancing guy, Johnny Steps. How did you manage to do so many braids?" Yami asked, examining his friend's work.

"Serenity went through a phase where she'd try to find as many hair styles as she could." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess I still haven't lost my touch."

"My turn!" Tristan snickered, grabbing the brush Tea held out to him. He, to the displeasure of both Joey and Yami, quickly began to undo the hair ties and brush out the braids, grinning when he noticed they had left the game king's hair . . . what had his big sister called it? Cramped? No, crumped. _Crimped_.

"What do you think you're all doing?" Yami grumbled, still attempting to preserve what little dignity he could. "I'm not a toy."

"Until whatever Bakura did to your hair wears off, Yami," Yugi grinned down at his brother, still seated behind the check-out counter, "that's exactly what you are."

"Okay. Now what do you think of my masterpiece?" Tristan crossed his arms and stuck his chest out proudly.

They all remained silent, trying to understand just what they were all seeing. Yami, knowing by the looks on their faces that he didn't want to know what had happened on his head, closed his eyes and hid his face.

"Masterpiece . . . huh?" Tea ventured. "What's it called? 'All thumbs'?" Yami's locks had been messily tied up into crooked pigtails right on top of his head. While his blonde and red tips had given his braids flair, though, they now just served to make him look even more ridiculous.

"I don't want to see." Yami till hadn't uncovered his face.

"Okay, you know what? Leave this to a professional." Tea took Tristan's place behind the now-prideless, pigtailed, pharaoh. "I'll make this work for you." Yami didn't say anything. Thirty seconds later, Tea held her mirror in front of him again. "Well?"

" . . . I look like a-," he trailed off, not sure exactly how to finish his sentence, but he liked how he looked.

"Young college professor?" Joey tried.

"Poet?" Yugi tilted his head to the side. Tea had pulled the majority of his hair back into a single ponytail, but left his bangs and some of his red-tipped ebony hair hang long on either side of his face.

"I like it like this." Yami turned his head form side to side. It really looked different, but in a good way.

"Alternatively, I can do this." Tea removed the hair tie, brushed one side of his bangs back into the ponytail, and let out a bit more black hair for the other side. Then she tied his hair up once more and had him look in the mirror. Now his hair covered one eye, while the rest was out of the way behind his head. "What do you think of this?"

"I look-,"

"Like a bad boy?" Joey tried again.

"Like you should be wearing more leather?" Yugi stifled his laughter behind his hand.

"Hot?" Tristan saw the expressions suddenly turn his way and held up his hands. "I grew up with my big sister in the house. Forgive me for knowing what teenage girls find attractive."

Yami smiled and shook his head a bit, making his bangs swish from side to side. "I was going to say half-blind, but I guess those work, too."

Yyyyy

"You really do look different like that. I nearly had a heart-attack when you signed in." Casey chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry. I think I pretty much learned my lesson about pranking Bakura." Yami had had Tea change his hair back to the 'young college professor' look once they'd played around a bit more. "How's Mouser doing?"

Casey, in response, bent down to retrieve the feline from his spot at her feet. "He caught a mouse the other day."

"Really?" Yami smirked at the tiny face sniffing at the computer screen. "That's great."

"Yeah." Casey rubbed his head, "And then he put it right in the middle of the dinner table. Most awkward welcoming party my family has ever thrown." She laughed.

"Who were you welcoming?" Yami reached across his desk and grabbed Mouser's original collar, jingling the bell in front of the camera and chuckling as the black and white cat pawed at the other computer to get at it.

"A new family moved in next door. They seem nice, but weren't that happy with Mouser's offering." She turned to look at the clock on her wall, and then looked back into the camera. "I've got to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Goodbye." Yami was reaching for the disconnect button when Casey suddenly stopped him.

"Oh, and by the way, I think whatever your friend did to your hair is starting to wear off. I wanted to see if you would notice, but you should probably look in the mirror before going anywhere."

They signed off and Yami went to the bathroom to find that, sure enough, his hair was back to defying both logic and gravity. His bangs were standing straight up while the rest of his hair was attempting to follow suit, but, as it was still in the hair tie, it made him look rather comical. "Thief King, this isn't over yet."

Yyyyy

Rule 37: No more messing with my hair (I can do worse to yours than just dying it)

Yyyyy

This was requested by ShatterTheHeavens.

Don't forget to review! And go check out my latest one-shot, Yami's Movie Commentary, if you want some more humor!


	38. Disney

Yami may not have been in any fight to the death lately, (excluding the previous night's little debacle involving Joey and the last cookie) but sixth sense isn't something that just turns off. He knew something was going to happen. He just didn't know what. He never could have predicted that it would come in the form of an animated American film made for children.

Yyyyy

"You guys will _never_ guess what I got!" Joey exclaimed, barging through the front door of Kame Game.

"Let me guess." Tea put down the monopoly piece she had in her hand and counted out the correct amount of colored paper to hand to Tristan. "A coupon to that all-you-can-eat place by the mall?"

"Nope."

Tristan rolled the dice and frowned as he landed on 'Go Directly to Jail'. He moved his piece and glanced up at his friend's wide and expectant smile. "A visit from those time travelers who were fans of yours?"

"As awesome as that would be, no. Not even close." Joey turned to Yami and Yugi, who had yet to guess.

"Just tell us, Joey." Yugi reached for the dice to take his turn.

"Okay. So, I know you have the first movie, but I was at the library and-, what's that look for, Tristan?"

"You? At the library?" Tristan mocked lightly.

"I read. And that new Ghost Detective book just came out last week."

"Ghost Detective? Isn't that that series that gives you nightmares?" Tristan rolled the dice and landed on a Chance square. Eagerly, he drew a card, only to sigh when it directed him to go back to jail.

"Well, yeah. Kinda." Joey blushed. "But it's really exciting. And a bit addicting." He shook his head and removed a small string backpack from his back. "That's beside the point, though. While I was there, I happened to see the section for movies. And take a look at what was there." With a flourish, Joey withdrew two DVD cases showing brightly colored characters. Across the tops were 'Toy Story 2' and 'Toy Story 3'. "What say we have a movie night?"

Yyyyy

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Yugi, but Disney is a company that makes movies for children, right?" Yami whispered as Tea was setting up the first movie.

" _Oh_ boy. You've never seen a Disney movie before? You're in for a surprise."

"What do you mean?"

"They're _officially_ for kids, but teens and adults love them. The last time a new one was released, I overheard several of our classmates openly admitting to shoving little kids out of the way because the theater was crowded and they wanted to see it."

" . . . I don't know how to respond to that." Yami's expression was concerned but he grabbed the case Tea handed him to read the plot of what he was about to see. From what he saw, it was a story about toys. How that was worth shoving children, he guessed he was just going to have to see.

"Lights going off, and movie going on." Tristan narrated as the room darkened.

The screen lit up with a wandering view of a child's room, and a potato with an eye patch apparently holding some other toys hostage. His friends, having already seen (and grown up with) this movie, began to cheer when a cloth cowboy doll made an entrance and had a fight with the potato: One-Eyed Bart.

Just a little ways into the movie, Yami was able to determine the hierarchy of the toys. Woody was the leader, Bo was his 'special friend', and Slinky, Rex, Potato head, and Hamm were the rest of his close friends. Buzz, however, thought that he was real, which ended up being a big problem for Woody.

Yami found himself, surprisingly, enjoying the movie. It was fun and the characters were easy to empathize with. Woody felt threatened and had never before had his position as leader and favorite challenged. Buzz had no idea what was actually going on, but knew he had a mission to complete. All the other toys were old classics and had never met an action hero as famous and equipped as the 'space ranger'. To them, he was a celebrity.

Throughout the movie, his friends had been chiming in, quoting remembered lines as they came up. It was around the scene where Woody and Buzz were in the claw machine and Woody was attempting to beat off the horde of aliens when he glanced over and realized that Tea had a small, stuffed dog in her arms. He recognized it from Yugi's room. It was one of those things that had always been there, but he'd just never really taken any real notice before.

When Scud the dog was given the alien, she clutched the toy tighter and Yugi leaned over slightly to lay his hand over its eyes. Yami smiled slightly, suddenly remembering that the two had been friends for years before he, or even Joey and Tristan, had come into the picture.

The rocket scene had Joey and Tristan arguing about whether they could pull the stunt off themselves. It ended when Grandpa, coming down for a glass of water, offered to strap explosives to them himself if they didn't let him sleep.

The next movie started and Yami realized too late why his friends all winced and looked away from the screen. A second later, though, Woody's arm was dangling by a few threads. It made him remember a toy he'd played with as a young child. A scribe had given it to him; a small, handmade doll, built of dried papyrus. He'd played with it constantly for a year or two, until it began falling apart and his father made him get rid of it.

"Aaand I just realized what I forgot to do today." Tristan broke him out of his thoughts. "Sachi tore a hole in Sheep this morning. I was going to sew him up, but got distracted. My parents are going to kill me when I get back."

"Looks like she's going to have to go through another night without him, then." Yugi stated flatly.

"Are you still upset that I forgot to tell you about him when she stayed over?" The look Tristan got from both Motou boys was answer enough.

"Woody is now partially dismembered, and has been kidnapped by a guy who dresses in a giant animal costume for work. Are you still trying to tell me that this is a child's movie?" Yugi asked Yami a bit later.

"Point taken and previous statement retracted."

"You're getting the hang of sarcasm, I see." Joey laughed. That was when Yami noticed _his_ toy; an action figure with faded paint, chipped armor, and a large sword. It was seated right on the blonde's shoulder, facing the screen.

Yami ended up liking the second movie just as much as the first. Until, that is, Jessie was told to jump back into the storage box and began panicking. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the maze of corridors and doors that he'd been locked in for far too long. Just bricks and darkness. The problem with closing his eyes, though, was that the room was dark except for the television, so he just felt even more trapped and closed in.

Yugi noticed his brother tense and looked up at him in concern. His breathing had sped up and his expression was one of stress and fear. "Yami? Come on. Let's go get everyone some drinks, alright?" he coaxed, grabbing his hand. Yami opened his eyes but his heart was still racing. Silently, he let Yugi lead him out of the room. As soon as they were in the kitchen, the smaller turned to face him, not letting go of his hand. "Are you alright?"

" . . . Yeah." Yami muttered, not looking anywhere but the ground.

"Are you sure? What's wrong?" Yugi pressed.

"I just, I don't know. I spent so much time in the puzzle I just . . ." he broke off with a short, humorless laugh. A vein attempt to convince Yugi, or maybe himself, that he was fine. "The animated toy," he enunciated, "made me remember what it was like. I didn't know how long I'd been in there, or if I was ever going to see sunlight again." He hung his head, not wanting the other to see how vulnerable he was.

"But you _did_ get out. And you're even human again. You're not going back there. I promise." Yugi put his hands on his brother's shoulders and made him look up. "And I can also tell you that Jessie comes out of that box."

Yami stared at him for a second, then sighed and smiled. "Thanks."

The rest of the second movie passed without incident, but the third, which had only been already seen by Tea and Yugi, began with a sad twist; Andy was grown and moving off to college. He was currently in the process of packing up and deciding what he should keep, donate, or throw out. After some mishaps, the gang (those that remained) ended up getting themselves donated to a daycare center that was not as sunny as it seemed. The argument about whether to stay or leave which resulted in Woody walking off made Yami glance worriedly at his friends.

Tristan had swiped Joey's action figure, but, as Joey didn't want to let it go, they had set it on the floor between them. Tea had set the stuffed dog on her shoulder and Yugi was leaning against him, half-asleep. They were all almost grown and would be finding their own ways in the world soon. Tea was going to leave the country, while Tristan planned to enlist in the military. Joey, as dueling had improved his math, and saving the world had taught him not to give up when the going got rough, was already sorting through what colleges he would like to attend. Yugi always wanted to take over his family's store, but Yami had no idea what he was going to do. Were there jobs for people who had once ruled a country? Maybe the Ishtars would have an opening at the museum.

The third movie was certainly darker than the other two, so when the gang ended up the garbage, heading towards the giant flame, Yami, Joey, and Tristan were all set to believe that help wasn't going to come. The last-minute save, though, triggered a large, synchronized, sigh from the three. They headed off to their happy ending back at Andy's house, but that wasn't to be either. Yami felt a stab of worry when he realized that Andy still was heading off to college. He planned on taking Woody, but the rest would be left in the attic. Storage. Forgotten and covered in dust for however long humanity decided to forget about their existence. Wait.

Woody set things in motion and the toys ended up at the home of the little girl Woody had stayed with. Andy pulled out his toys one by one and introduced them. It was when he got to Woody, though, that Yami found it hard to swallow. Tea quickly got up and left the room, making some excuse about refilling her tea. As Andy drove away, leaving everyone behind, Yami attempted to nonchalantly rub at his eyes. Glancing over, he saw that Yugi was asleep, but Joey had hid his face in his arms, feigning sleep, while Tristan was a bit too quick to turn the screen off, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"I'll be back in a second." Yami muttered hoarsely. He knew that no matter where they were, they could still remain friends, but he still had something he needed to add to the list.

Yyyyy

Rule 38: Disney movies need to come with warnings.

Yyyyy

Apologies for being so late with this, but life has been crazy and I hit a bit of writer's speed bump with this chapter. I hope you all liked it! Don't forget to leave a review before you go! Also, if anyone decides to make some art for House Rules, I would _love_ to see it. :3


	39. Return From The Future

Yami was seated at his desk when it happened. He was sorting through his cards, surfing the Internet for possible combinations and the occasional gamer chat room, when the Skype . . . thing, popped up on his screen. Curious, as he hadn't been expecting Casey to call, he hit accept.

 **"Shit, shit. Wrong button."** A boy around Yami's age was tapping at the keyboard of a computer in a very familiar room. Casey's room, to be exact. He had short, dyed blonde hair and wore an unzipped, baggy jacket. He noticed Yami staring at him and froze. **"Whoa. Um. Who are you?"**

Yami just blinked, understanding the exclamation of surprise, but not much else. All he knew for sure was this was not Casey, but he was in her room, on her laptop. "Who are you?" He didn't know if this guy would understand him, so he made sure to narrow his eyes and fix him with his trademark glare. It seemed to work, because the guy raised his eyebrows and removed his hands from the keyboard.

 **"Who the heck are you?"** It was then that the door behind the boy opened and Casey entered with a plate of food. She saw the sheepish look on the boy's face and Yami on the computer. **"I'm sorry. I was trying to see out your window and pushed a button."** He hurriedly explained. (At least, that's what Yami thought he was doing, judging by his body language.)

Casey sighed and pushed him aside. "I'm so sorry, Yami. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright. Who is that?" Yami wasn't exactly sure what to think in regards to the fact that she apparently knew this person.

"He's the new neighbors' son."

The guy leaned over with, earning himself another look of disapproval from the Game King, no regards for personal space. **"Whoa. You know Chinese? Cool!"**

"I'll talk to you later, Yami." She rolled her eyes and signed off, but not before the boy flashed the peace sign in farewell.

Yyyyy

Yami's day had started out rather well, then turned . . . well, unexpected was the best way to describe it. And now, he was discovering that someone out there decided that he was fun to mess with. What other explanation could there be for the scene he walked into when he came downstairs?

"Check out this one." Joey had the sleeve to his t-shirt rolled up and was pointing to a pale line across his bicep. "Knife. The guy had a blade and two cronies and I left him crying in the alley they jumped me in."

"Nice." Replied a teen Yami hadn't expected to see again. "But not as good as this one here." Crow, the duelist from the future, pulled up his pant leg to about mid-calf to reveal his ankle. A crude, jagged line snaked around it, healed, but the flesh was still slightly pink. "Barbed wire. I ticked off the wrong ex-con. He expressed his displeasure with me."

"That's gotta hurt. And so did this baby." Tristan unbuttoned his jeans and pulled the side down enough to reveal the top of his hip, but nothing else. There was a round mark, about the size of a ten-yen piece, made of pink, raised scar tissue just above the bone.

"Is that a bullet wound?" The boy twin, Leo, stared at it wide-eyed. "I thought it was just a myth that people got those!"

"Okay Leo." Yugi got his attention. "One, be careful talking about future advances in technology. And two, you thought bullet wounds were myths?"

"Well, not wounds, exactly. I just heard about them in history class. My teacher said that people made them to kill animals and other people, and that just one shot could kill someone instantly. I didn't think people survived to _have_ scars."

"Well, Leo," Tristan buttoned up his pants, "I am proof that not all bullet wounds are deadly. I was practicing at a shooting range and a guy behind me dropped his gun. It went clean through and I was out of the hospital before the weekend was out. I was mostly there for observation, though." He hastened to add the last part when he caught Tea's concerned expression.

Yusei, Jack, Crow, Akiza, the twins, and a tall, thin guy they'd never met before were all gathered in the living room along with Grandpa, Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Tea. Yami stood at the bottom of the stairs for a minute before walking over.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Yugi spun around, blinked in surprise, and then smiled. "Yami, I thought you were out."

"I got back a little while ago. What's going on here?"

"These guys decided to drop by and say thanks for last time. Apparently they managed to save that one place they didn't want to name before and brought their source with them, this time. This is Kalin." Yugi gestured to the new guy. He had long, silver hair and pale, steel-blue eyes. His hands were calloused from hard manual labor, and he had a tattoo on his cheek similar to Yusei's.

"Hello, and welcome." Yami nodded formally to the man.

"Hello. And thank you for your help. It made a big difference." Kalin smiled warmly back.

Crow coughed. "You make it sound like we wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. Way to lack faith, man." He elbowed his friend and grinned to show he was kidding.

"Of course our training helped." Joey boasted. "After all, I _am_ one of the greatest duelists of my time."

"Stick a pin in your ego." Crow returned, glaring playfully. "I think it needs to deflate a bit."

"Big words for a little man. Do you know where you are?"

Tea, catching sight of Yami's worried face, leaned over and whispered, "They're just playing. Having fun taunting each other. And besides, I think Yusei and Jack will step in if things go too far."

Yami glanced discreetly over at the two and noticed that they were keeping as close an eye on their friend as he was on his.

"Yeah, the home of the greatest duelist in the world. You, unless history is full of-,"

"Crow, language." Yusei interrupted, nodding at Leo and Luna.

Crow blushed and continued. "Um, you-know-what, aren't him."

"No, but I was trained by him. And the guy who trained _him_. _And_ I helped save the world _multiple_ times over." Joey grinned at him with a 'beat that' look.

"Try doing it at plus fifty miles an hour on two wheels." The redhead shot back.

"Try being _digitized_." Everyone was looking on in amusement at the two, some trying to hide smiles, others openly laughing.

"Wait, you were actually digitized? Like, inside a game?" Crow paused.

"Yeah. More than once." Joey held his head high, thinking he'd won.

"Well, _I_ dueled against several elite police as I was being chased for stealing from their headquarters. Then got away so spectacularly that they reported to their superior that they hadn't even seen me that night just to preserve their pride."

"Well, _I_ dueled for the sake of the world, _and_ my soul. Several times." The blonde crossed his arms and leaned back, sure Crow wouldn't be able to top that.

"Been there, done that. Again, did it while trying not to crash my duel runner."

"And with that," Yami stood and headed for the kitchen, "I'm putting a stop to this little game."

"What? What'd I say?" Crow turned to stare at him.

"The world is going to be in danger." Yami picked up a pen and wrote another line on his ever-growing list.

Joey turned to his opponent with the biggest grin on his face and said two words. "I win."

Yyyyy

Rule 39: Absolutely no attempting to one-up the time travelers.

Yyyyy

This was requested by littleditto. And as an added bonus, a little bit more Casey! Please leave a review before you go! They really encourage me to write more! :3


	40. Aliens!

Grandpa was old. He knew that. He also knew that everyone else knew that. That was the problem. He was a Motou! Motous didn't lead boring lives! Sure, they lived above a small game store in the middle of the city, but he had once been one of the most formidable archeologists in the world! He'd dueled and dodged traps and uncovered what the world had not only forgotten, but also grown to believe was fantasy. More than once he'd gotten in and out of rooms that had claimed the lives of numerous people, identified triggers and switches others had passed off as just another stone, discovered tombs and relics and massive chambers not seen since before his grandson had been pharaoh . . . that just made him sound even older. The elderly man groaned and dropped his head to his hands.

Yyyyy

It was one of those rare days that Grandpa found himself running the store alone. Yami and Yugi had met up with their friends in the park for a picnic and weren't expected back for several hours. He dusted the shelves and restocked the display racks, then sat down behind the counter with a Rubik's cube. He was not getting up again until it was solved. Or, at least, that's what he planned. The front door opened and a teen bounced in, ruining his plans.

"Yo, Gramps! What's up?" Jaden Yuki grinned widely and leaned against the counter. He had apparently brought along four of his friends, and they were currently browsing the shelves.

Grandpa, having had a rather upsetting morning what with his whole 'old' realization, ended up replying with a sarcastic, "The end of the world."

Instantly, Jaden lost his grin and straightened up, eyes bugged out. "No way. Really? What's happening?"

"Um, Jay?" The small boy with glasses and blue hair grabbed his arm. "I think he was kidding."

"What, kidding? No way, Sy. Who kids about the end of the world?" Jaden turned back to Grandpa, who was starting to realize he might have just made a mistake. "What going on? We can help." He stated determinedly.

"Um." Grandpa had met these kids about a year ago, had run around the city with them for a bit, and knew they were big fans of his grandson. He also knew that they were skilled duelists who attended that new school Kaiba had built to train duelists, but not that much else about them. A moment later, though, he narrowed his eyes calculatingly and glanced at each teen in turn. He had also learned one valuable piece of information from the day they met. One that could come in as handy now as it had back then; these students, Jaden in particular, were gullible. Last time he'd seen them; he'd played the senile card and gotten a piggy-back ride and free tour of the city. "First things first," he straightened his back and crossed his arms, "Introduce me to your team. Are they skilled enough to save the world?"

"Yes sir, they are!" Jaden responded like a drill cadet to his superior. "I'm Jaden Yuki, best duelist at Duel Academy," this earned a snort from a boy behind him, dressed in a yellow jacket, "and this is my best friend, Syrus." he gestured to the short, blue-haired kid, who immediately broke into the biggest 'I-told-you-so' grin and turned to face another boy dressed in yellow, who glared back. "And this is Bastion, Alexis, _there_ you are, Hassleberry. I didn't see you there. And this is Hassleberry. We're all really skilled and are ready to take on whatever is endangering the world."

Grandpa pretended to think it over for a minute, hand on his chin and eyes raised toward the ceiling. "Okay. The problem is my grandson and his friends. Aliens have captured them and used their technology to take their places here on earth. I believe they're in the park."

Jaden turned to his friends, who, except for the dinosaur kid, were trying not to laugh. "We're going up against aliens, everyone! Do you all have your decks with you?"

"I do, Aniki." Syrus raised his in the air, and then glared daggers at Hassleberry as he was pushed out of the way.

"I got mine, Sarge!"

"We _all_ have your decks, Jaden. We always do. Are we going to go or not?" Alexis pulled hers out of its case as proof, and Bastion nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go." The hyper brunette jumped up and bolted for the door.

"Sarge!"

"Jaden, wait up!" Syrus and Hasselberry ran off after him.

"Are you going to come, too?" Bastion asked the grinning man.

"You bet I am."

Yyyyy

Yugi was stretched out on the grass under a huge oak, using Joey's legs as a pillow, almost asleep. Tristan had challenged Tea and Yami to a game of basketball in a nearby court, confidant he had found a game the Game King couldn't win, and was losing by a rather large margin. Joey was keeping a watchful eye on a squirrel in the tree above him, just incase he tried to come down for what was left of their lunch again, ignoring the fact that he could no longer feel his left foot below where his buddy's head was.

"You there! Aliens! I demand that you vacate earth and return the humans you took!"

The basketball bounced off the rim, and the players turned to look at the newcomer, who was quickly being joined by more and more people, the last of whom was a very familiar, grinning elder.

"Grandpa? What are you doing?" Yami raised an eyebrow. Joey roused Yugi and the two joined the others.

"We're here to duel you for earth!" The apparent leader, a brunette teen in a fire engine red jacket pointed at them.

" . . ."

" . . ."

" . . ."

"Do you know this guy?" Yugi looked up at his friends.

Yami tilted his head to the side. "He . . . does look a bit familiar."

"Wait. You actually know him?" Joey couldn't have appeared more confused.

"Yeah. I cant really out my finger on where from, though-,"

" _Hey!_ Winged Kuriboh! Come back!" The boy suddenly began yelling at something.

"Jaden, are you talking to one of your duel spirits again?" The short boy with them asked, voice quivering slightly.

"Yeah. Winged Kuriboh is acting like he knows them."

Yami smiled and held out his hand. "I just remembered where I know him from." The others could see a faint, shimmering figure happily nuzzling Yami's hand. "I gave him this little one."

Jaden froze and stopped trying to call back his spirit. "So . . . you're not an alien?"

"Who told you I was?" Yami narrowed his eyes and turned to focus on Grandpa, who was pretending to be captivated by some nearby ducks. "Never mind."

"I my defense, well actually, the defense of everyone except Jaden and maybe Hassleberry, we were just along for the ride. And, I guess, to meet you." The girl explained.

Yami sighed, patting the duel spirit. "You can join us if you want. Just, please, don't call us aliens again." The teens cheered and ran over, and Yami locked eyes with his sheepish grandfather. "You're getting a rule as soon as I get back home."

"Kurriii!" Winged Kuriboh trilled.

Yyyyy

Rule 40: Grandpa is not allowed to act out his dreams of saving the world.

Yyyyy

Requested by presea221.

FORTY CHAPTERS! I can't believe it! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think!


	41. Kuriboh Infestation

Yugi and Yami had been raised as only children. They had never had siblings, and thus were constantly trying to figure out the mechanics of their new relationship. Yami had been in charge of an entire country at one point, but not a sole, singular person. Yugi had never really had anyone to look up to, excluding his grandfather. Thus, it was inevitable that something would eventually happen that landed them to complete the traditional sibling practice of working together to get each other in trouble.

Yyyyy

Yugi was on dish duty that night. That meant that he had his hands covered in suds and water when Yami walked up behind him.

"You forgot one." He said, placing a mug on the counter.

Yugi had not noticed his arrival, which caused him to react by spinning around rather quickly in shock, knocking into the mug.

Purely by instinct, Yami pulled out a tendril of dark from the shadow of the cabinet and caught it, placing it back on he counter. All without physically moving.

"Whoa. You still have your powers?" Yugi grabbed the mug and set it in the sink, just in case.

"Yeah. I don't really need them much anymore, but I guess it's just a side effect of being stuck in a magical item for centuries." Yami shrugged. He'd used his abilities very little since gaining a body of his own, trying to adjust to being a normal teen.

"Could you show me how?" Yugi was wide-eyed with curiosity.

"Eh," Yami looked around for any parental supervision and upon finding none tentatively replied, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! That would be awesome!" Yugi hurriedly finished the last dish and washed all the soap off his hands.

Yami knew he was going to regret his decision, but at the moment, he found himself unable to say 'no' to Yugi. "Alright, fine. Just don't tell Grandpa."

"Deal."

Yyyyy

Yami, after making sure the bedroom door was secure, Yami turned to his brother and disciple. "Ready?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. Give me a minute. It's been a while since I've done this."

Yami held his hands out, palms facing the same spot on the carpet, and focused. As Yugi watched on in open-mouthed amazement, a swirl of darkness appeared and gradually took shape. At first, it just looked like a misshapen soccer ball, but then features became more apparent. Long, messy fur, two big eyes, and four small limbs tipped in claws.

"Kurii?" It purred, looking about in confusion.

"You summoned Kuriboh!" Yugi grinned and knelt by the small creature, who rubbed happily against his hand.

"You should have some magic in you, if only residual from me. Why don't you try? Summon a little playmate for him." Yami encouraged after catching his breath. Lack of practice and the Millennium Puzzle made it harder to use his powers.

"Okay." Yugi stood up and took a step back from Kuriboh and held out his hands like he'd seem Yami do. "Do I do anything special now?"

"Focus on Kuriboh. Imagine another one of him appearing and try to center your magic in one spot." Yami instructed.

"Alright. I've got this." Yugi narrowed his eyes and gasped slightly when a small ball of swirling darkness began to appear in front of his palms.

"Good job."

Unfortunately, that was when Kuriboh grew bored and attempted to get Yugi to play with him again. Letting out little chirrups, he floated around Yugi's head playfully.

"Kuriboh, stop it!" Yugi giggled, losing focus and trying to avoid the flying ball of energy.

"Yugi, be careful!" Yami cautioned, reaching for Kuriboh. Yugi's dodging had caused his arms to swing around, and now, as the three realized, there were dozens of tiny, swirling masses all over the room, all about half the size of the one that had formed the creature in Yami's arms.

"Uh oh." Yugi muttered.

"Uh oh is right." Yami replied. Lack of focus on any of them had caused them to not form fully. Gradually, they finished taking shape and suddenly the room was covered in tiny Kuribohs.

Before Yami was able to move to move, Yugi slumped against his shoulder. "Mm. Sleepy." He muttered.

"Yugi?" Yami let go of Kuriboh, who floated worriedly nearby. Yugi closed his eyes and curled into his brother's chest as best as he could. "He's fine, Kuriboh. Just used a bit too much power." Yami picked Yugi up and laid him on the bed. "You take a nap. I'll deal with this."

"Boys? What's going on in here?" Grandpa asked, opening the door.

"Grandpa, no!"

"Kuriii!" Cue tiny stampede out the door.

" . . . I can explain."

Yyyyy

"I never thought I would hear the end of it." Casey dropped her head to her desk. "Ethan, the boy you kind of met, is apparently an avid skateboarder. I learned more about Tre's and ollies than I wanted." She looked up at the camera. "Did you do anything over the weekend?"

"Oh, not much-," Yami was cut off as his brother ran in and dove under his bed.

"Yami! I found one! Help me catch it!"

"What was that?" Casey peered as best she could past Yami's completely blank face.

"A mouse."

"A mouse?" She echoed.

"Meow!" Yugi shouted, emerging from under the bed, holding his cupped hands in the air victoriously.

Yyyyy

Rule 41: Yugi is not allowed to learn how to use shadow magic. Ever.

Yyyyy

Requested by PhantomBrat.

Don't forget to review! They are my drive to write more! :3


	42. Field Trip

It was no secret that the gang loved animals. Tristan doted on his dog, Sachi, while Joey could never resist asking people permission to pet their pooches. Tea and Yugi had had animals in their pasts, but did not currently own any. That didn't stop them from feeding local birds and strays, or playing with Sachi on occasion. Even Yami loved animals.

At the moment, he was on a video call with Mouser. He had originally been talking to Casey, but she had had to leave the room. Yami smiled and propped his head up on his hand, dangling a little jingle ball in front of the camera and laughing as the cat pawed at the screen. He went up on his back paws to try and swat the toy and Yami laughed out loud when he realized the feline was also using his rough tongue out of confusion.

"Yami!" Casey moaned, returning to see her cat attacking her laptop. "How am I going to explain to Mom that Mouser ate my computer?"

"Sorry." Yami put the ball away as she tossed the cat's catnip mouse across the room. "I couldn't resist."

"I swear, you belong in a zoo. The wild cats would make you one of their own." She started out exasperated, but ended up giggling.

Yami, however, cocked his head in confusion. "A what?"

" . . . You've never been to a zoo?"

"I don't think so." He searched his memory. He knew he'd heard that word before, but then again, he'd been learning a lot of new words lately.

"Trust me, you'd know if you did. I went when I was six and I can still remember feeding the giraffe."

"You fed a giraffe?" Yami smiled, imagining that.

"Yeah. Just for a second, though. Mitch convinced me that it would mistake me for food and swallow me. I was too scared of getting caught in its throat to go near it again." She shook her head. "Anyway, you need to go. That's one of those things that everyone has to do at least once in their lives."

"The last time I heard that, I got ingrained with a permanent fear of fairground rides." Yami deadpanned.

"Wuss."

"Excuse me?" He blinked.

"Fairground rides are the highlight of the year for most teens."

"If I may quote a good friend of mine," he paused for effect, "you're insane."

"And you need to go to the zoo. Get your friends to take you. It's always more fun in a group."

"Alright. I'll see if the others would like to go this weekend. On the condition that you take more care around fairground rides." He raised his eyebrows, seeking her agreement.

She breathed a short laugh. "Alright, fine. If it will get you to the zoo, I won't go _as_ crazy when the fair comes to town this year. That's the best I can do."

"Fine."

Casey smiled and shook her head. "I know you said you were a bit out of touch with popular culture, but I figured everyone had at least gone to a zoo."

"I'm out of touch with regular culture, too?" Yami offered. He really didn't want Casey knowing the truth about him. There would be a big chance that she thought he was either insane or playing her for a fool. And on the off chance she _did_ believe him, he liked having a friend that didn't know about his royal past, or his history with, well, history.

Before she could respond, loud, rapid footsteps were heard coming down the hall on her end. The bedroom door burst open and in barreled a familiar teen. He had a beanie covering his hair this time and clutched a skateboard in his hand.

"Ethan? What the heck are you doing here?" Casey exclaimed, and then realized she hadn't switched back to her native tongue and repeated herself.

" **Your mom said you were up here. You were going to show me that skate park in town, right? You got your roller blades?"** He then caught sight of Yami's confused and concerned face on the screen and smiled brightly. **"Hey! Hi! Sorry about last time, mixing up Chinese and Japanese. My bad, dude."**

" **Ethan, he doesn't speak English."** Casey patiently explained. **"And** _ **I**_ **never said I was going. Our parents decided we should be friends."**

Yami didn't understand what was going on, but he could read the slightly hurt expression on Ethan's face, along with Casey's vaguely annoyed one. She turned back to the computer. "I've gotta go, Yami. Talk to you later."

"Good bye."

"And go to the zoo." And with that, she signed off.

Yyyyy

"You want to go to the zoo?" Yugi's eyes were wide. "What brought this on?"

"I mentioned to Casey that I'd never been and she insisted I go." Yami replied, sorting the display shelves.

"You've never been to the zoo?" Joey turned to Yugi, face radiating disappointment. "Why have you never taken him to the zoo?"

"Because it's never really come up before. But it has been a while since I've gone. Since the shop is closed tomorrow, why don't you call Tea and Tristan and see if they want to come along?" Yugi motioned Joey over to the phone as he continued to set out statues featuring various Duel Monsters.

Yyyyy

The sun shone brightly as the five teens gazed around at all the animals. "Wow. It really has been a while since I was last here." Yugi commented, examining the map. "I don't remember them having a nocturnal house."

"Where should we go first?" Joey looked around.

Yami, however, had had something catch his eye. It was in a fenced off area on the opposite side of the food court. "Hey, guys, why don't we go this way, first?" The creature had just disappeared around a corner in its enclosure, so Yami picked up his pace and leaned over the railing. "Here, boy." He called, whistling. To the surprise of the other people around him, a camel came trotting into view and up to the fence.

Yami had never expected to see a camel in Japan. In joy, he slipped under the fence and walked up to the large animal. Grunting, it bumped its head against his chest and the teen responded by rubbing between its eyes.

"Hey, kid! You're not allowed to be in there!" A big guy in a security uniform leaned into the pen. "Come on. Out. Let's go."

"Huh?" Yami looked up and realized that, not only was he the sudden center of attention, his friends were nowhere to be seen. Blushing, he made his way out of the camel enclosure and looked around. The security guy was giving him a stern lecture about 'leaving the animals alone', but he was more concerned about where the rest of his group had gone.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Uh, yes sir. I won't do it again. Bye." Yami walked over to where he had left his friends looking at the map. Where had they said they were going? The nocturnal animal house? He spotted several paths and chose the one with an arrow announcing the nocturnal creatures. Ten minutes later, he caught up with everyone.

"Yami, where'd you go?" Joey waved, "You can't just take off like that. Got all the way there before we realized you were gone."

"I saw a camel. And apparently they don't like it when you enter the animal pens." There was dead silence from his friends. "What?"

" . . . Yami, what, exactly, did Casey say to you again? About why you should go to the zoo?" Yugi face palmed.

"That everyone should go to the zoo at least once in their lives, and the wildcats would make me one of their own-," Yami was cut off by Joey grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging him back to the entrance.

"There is no way I'm letting you wander off again. Every time we lose you in a crowd, you get yourself into trouble. Pandora, Anubis, now a camel?" Joey ignored Tea, Tristan, and Yugi telling him to let Yami go. He just kept walking. There was something he needed to get that would solve this problem once and for all.

Yyyyy

"Joey, there is no way I am going anywhere with you like this." Yami did his best to hide his mortified face behind his bangs. "Do you realize how wrong this looks? People are staring." He reached up to undo the leash Joey had fastened to his leather collar, but the blonde just slapped his hand away.

"Why do _I_ have to wear one?" Yugi whined, opting instead to refuse walking until Joey gave a quick tug.

"Because you're as danger-prone as Yami. Yami, stop that." He swatted the duelist's hand away again.

"Yami," Yugi scowled, stopping and earning another tug from Joey. "As soon as we get home, I'm calling Casey and telling her to _never_ give you any ideas ever again."

Yyyyy

Rule 42: Yami needs a chaperone when going to new places. (And the next person who tries to put me on a leash will suffer. Greatly.)

Yyyyy

Requested by Jennex. I hope you enjoyed it!

Don't forget to review/follow/favorite!


	43. Adulthood

There were several customs that had changed from when Yami was a child. Thousands of years and miles had left him struggling to adjust to his new life. Climate? Suddenly cold and containing less dust and more seagull squawks. Buildings? Built to withstand time and mother earth, even though they reached higher than the largest pyramids he had ever seen. Animals? No longer solely for work, transportation, and food, (though dogs for the deaf and blind, along with police dogs, were still a source of fascination for him, as he had never known such jobs could be held by an animal.) The first time he'd gone into a grocery store and discovered that an entire section was dedicated to animal care, he'd gotten his brother laughing so hard by unintentionally starting his sentence with 'back in my time'.

And then there were the teenagers. His friends, of course, were very dear to him, but the cultural difference between them often resulted in a bit of a cultural barrier.

"This is a what?" Yami held the device in his hands as if it were a cobra.

"Rite of passage. All teens have to do this to prove that they're ready to face the trials of adulthood." Joey took another gulp of his soda and set it aside before adjusting the machine in front of his confused friend.

"I hope you realize that I ruled Egypt as a man. I did my rite of passage years ago. Well, years before I got sealed away, I mean." He tried to hand Joey the microphone and reclaim the seat he had been pulled out of, only for the larger male to grab his arm. The rest of the people in the room (thankfully only Tristan, Tea, Yugi, and Duke) moved so that there were no more available seats between them.

"You may have been a man by your peoples' standards, but this isn't Egypt."

"Are you saying I went from a man to a boy? Just because of where I am?" Yami raised his eyebrow dubiously.

Joey was silent just long enough to glance at their audience. "Sorry, Yami. I don't make the rules."

"I'm not so sure you even know the rules." Yami pushed the microphone into his hands and walked back to the couch, leaning against the back of it. "I'm not singing karaoke."

Yyyyy

Rule 43: Karaoke is not a rite of passage into adulthood. (And, no Joey. Neither is seeing female undergarments. Put them back.)

Yyyyy

Requested by Sissie131.

I hope you enjoyed! Please review/follow/favorite!


	44. S'mores, ghosts, and Pharaohs, oh my!

Yami unfurled the sleeping bag with a flick of his wrist and spread it out in the tent. This was the first time he had been camping (intentionally, that is), and he was looking forward to it. Joey and Tristan had been in charge of setting up the tents, Yugi and Tea were out gathering firewood, and he was laying out the sleeping arrangements.

"All done!" Joey stepped back to admire their handiwork, brushing his hands off. "I can't wait till it gets dark. The stars are supposed to look great this far from the city."

"And you're so totally not looking forward to S'mores at all, right?" Tristan grinned, shaking a box of chocolates teasingly.

"And roasting marshmallows and hot dogs." Yugi chimed in, placing the firewood in the center of the rock border they had arranged. Tea followed suit.

"And telling ghost stories-,"

"Absolutely not." Joey's face took on a panic-stricken expression.

"Oh, please don't tell me you're _still_ afraid of ghosts." At Joey's self-conscious look, Tristan snickered. "After all we've been through, campfire stories are enough to bring down the 'Godfather of Games'?"

"After all we've been through, I'm surprised that they _don't_ scare you." Joey retorted. "Do you realize just how many stories and tales and legends have nearly done us in?"

"Speaking of which, I heard that these particular woods have had some strange rumors going on about them as of late." Yugi frowned in mock seriousness.

"That's _it_ , we're leaving!" Joey grabbed his backpack and spun on his heel towards the trail back to the car.

"He's kidding, Joey. Put your stuff down." Yami rolled his eyes. They were going to have a good time, and he was looking forward to it.

Yyyyy

Night had fallen, but the mood had not. They had passed the time teaching Yami to work a pocketknife, shaving good sticks into spears ("No, Yami. Not for hunting. We brought food, don't worry."), and cooking hot dogs. Joey and Tristan, feeling adventurous, had picked a few surrounding berries and attempted to roast them, to varying degrees of success.

"You know, I heard that there was actually something pretty strange that happened not too far away from here-,"

"Yugi, shut up."

"Don't worry, Joey. This is a good ghost story." Yugi smiled cheekily. "The road we took to get here, if you follow it for another twenty or so miles, goes right to Okinawa." He used his stick, still covered in marshmallow goo, to point. "There was this newlywed couple a few years ago that were headed up there for their honeymoon but the road gets dangerous in the dark. They had wanted to avoid traffic, so they took back roads the whole way, but had missed the weather report. Wedding, honeymoon, each other, mothers-in-law, you get the idea. There were more important things to be focusing on than the weather. Unfortunately, a storm set in. They ended up driving blind for several miles, panicking and wishing they'd taken the highway. Finally, though, they saw lights. It was someone's house, but they were so desperate at this point that they figured begging some old hermit for a place to spend the night was better than risking driving off a cliff."

"But he had a gun and kidnapped them and ate them and used their bones to pave his driveway" Joey finished, throwing his hands into the air and reaching for another marshmallow. He stuck it on his stick and held it over the flickering flame.

"Actually, it was an old, retired couple. They welcomed the company and congratulated them on their recent marriage. The woman made tea with honey to help calm their nerves and-,"

"It was laced with cyanide and hunters found their corpses a month later hanging from trees and being used as bait to lure in food for the old couple to eat." Joey blew out the flames that had latched onto his marshmallow and expertly transferred it onto a graham cracker. He placed chocolate on top and covered that with another graham cracker.

Yami had tried a few already and found them delicious. He would have had more, were it not for the fact that his hands were now embarrassingly sticky. As a member of the royal family, eating etiquette and cleanliness had been drilled into him from an early age until it had become instinct. He just hoped one of his friends had something that would clean S'mores, because he didn't think he could last the entire night like this.

"No, Joey. It was just tea and honey. The newlyweds wanted to pay the old couple for their hospitality, but the couple refused. They were happy to help. Around midnight, they all went to bed-,"

"Except the old couple, who dragged them down to the basement where they kept them-,"

"No, Joey. The old couple went to sleep, too. And the young couple woke up before them the next morning. It was sunny out and they had to get going, but they couldn't just leave without repaying the couple for their hospitality, so the young woman took off her ruby earrings and left them with a note on the kitchen counter thanking them. They reached Okinawa, and checked into the hotel they had booked, but had to explain why they were late. When they told of the kind old couple out in the back roads cabin, the desk clerk suddenly looked at them like they were crazy. 'I know that road well, and the only house you could be talking about burned to the ground three years ago.' He said."

Yami was starting to see why people told scary stories around campfires. The temperature fell with the sun, and the idea of ghosts and monsters lurking in the dark sent chills further up their spines, prompting them to lean in closer to the flickering light. The shadows dancing across their faces and bodies, however, did little to make them feel safe.

"The couple were confused and drove back out to the cabin later that day just to prove to themselves that that was where they had stayed. They rolled up the same driveway, only to stare at the overgrown, burnt-out shell of an old house. They had taken the same road, and turned at the exact same mail box, but still didn't believe this was the same house. Until something glinted from the still-standing front porch railing. They got out to see what it was."

Tea shuddered and pulled her blanket around her tighter. "Please don't tell me it was her earrings."

"It was. But the note had been replaced. There was a new paper that read, in beautiful cursive, _'Thank you for your offer, but your company for the night was reward enough._ '"

Yami shuddered and scanned the tree line, feeling the need to assure himself that there was no ghost sneaking up on them.

"They spent the whole night with ghosts? In these woods?" Joey looked around in terror as Tristan laughed, Tea handed out napkins, and Yugi yawned.

"I think it's about time to turn in for the night." Yami spoke above Joey's rants. Everyone agreed and climbed into the tents, Tristan putting out the fire and Joey grabbing a large stick from the leftover firewood pile for defense. Yugi and Yami took one tent, Joey and Tristan the second, and Tea had the last one.

Yyyyy

"Yugi!" Joey's call woke everyone with a start the next morning. " _Yugi!"_

"Joey, what's going on?" Tea stuck her head out of her tent. Yami and Tristan followed suit.

"I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed your guys' tent door was open. Yugi's not here! That freaky ghost couple wanted company and took him!" The blonde was pacing back and forth in frantic worry.

Yami turned his head and realized that Joey was right; Yugi was gone. "Maybe he just went to go to the bathroom, too?"

"He would have heard Joey calling him. Maybe something did happen. If he's not in the area, we'll call the police." Tristan analyzed the situation and they began searching around. A few minutes later, they came across a footprint. It was Yugi's size, and bare. It was also alone, save for another one after it in the soft dirt, which meant he had left alone. "Where could he have gone?"

Five minutes later, they had their answer. Yugi was sound asleep, curled in the aboveground roots of a large oak. Joey ran over and picked him up, giving him a tight hug. Yami breathed a sigh of relief. Yugi was safe, and there were no visible wounds anywhere.

"Yugi, why are you out here? _Did those ghosts take you so they weren't lonely?_ " Joey shook him harder than he meant to, nearly giving him whiplash by accident.

"What are doing out here, Yugi?" Tristan asked as Yami and Tea pried him out of his friend's hold.

Yugi groggily looked around, confusion written in caps on his face. "Where…am I?"

"About ten yards from our campsite. Do you not remember walking down here?" Tristan handed Joey a stick and told him to go make sure there were no ghosts or elderly people in the area. "On second thought, just look for ghosts. With you're luck, you're going to lock onto someone who is actually still alive."

"I'll just…protect you guys from here…if you don't mind." The idea of wandering spirits in the vicinity suddenly turned the blonde from a Rottweiler into a Chihuahua.

"I remember I had a dream that I was taking a walk in the woods, but I thought it was just a dream."

"Didn't something like this happen that time we had Marik and Malik over for a movie night?" Tea set to work removing the sticks and branches from his hair and clothes.

"Come to think of it, this dream did feel about the same. I mean, there was no panicking or vampire this time, but how realistic it felt." Yugi yawned and Yami made a mental note to add onto the list when they returned home.

Yyyyy

Rule 44: When sleeping in a new place, Yugi may need to be contained/tied up. (And Tristan was serious, Joey. That poor couple was alive and will most likely never go camping again.)

Yyyyy

Requested by silverheartlugia2000

I didn't mean for this to take three months to update, but this chapter was hard to write. Let me know what you thought! What had been your favorite rule so far? :3


	45. An Old Game

Is this safe? Are you sure about this? I think they put those warnings on the box for a reason. I heard this was dangerous. Please, can't we just go TP someone's house like _normal_ teens for once? _Chicken_?! Who you callin' a chicken?

These were the common phrases Grandpa heard when his grandsons' friends slept over. These were also his cues to go to sleep and pray police sirens or another apocalypse didn't wake him. That, or an angry teenage CEO. Whatever was going on downstairs, he didn't want to know. Turning out his bedroom light, he crawled under the covers and closed his eyes. Maybe they'd be polite enough to allow an old man the courtesy of sleep tonight.

Yyyyy

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Tea groaned. Joey, usually, would be the one complaining, but he was too busy trying to hide the fact that he was visibly shaking. "My neighbor did this when he was a kid, and he said he got a scratch on his leg that just appeared out of nowhere. His brother had nightmares for weeks afterwards."

"If this thing is that dangerous, I vote we just put it away and, I don't know, try out one of the new games we just got in. That Fossil Fighters one looked interesting." Yami pointed at the stairwell leading down to the shop.

Tristan ignored his friends' protests and continued unboxing his elder brother's old Ouija board. "It's just an old game. And besides, what are the chances of this place actually being haunte-, y'know what? Never mind. Your house is probably crawling with ghosts." Seeing the glances that were shared, he laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "At least we know tonight won't be boring."

"You want to know what else wasn't boring? That time we were transported to that capsule monsters world. Do you know _why_ it wasn't boring? Because we almost died every time we went to take a leak!" Joey shot back.

"And none of us has to pee, right?"

"I wonder if Mai would like to have a girl's night. Or Serenity. Or maybe Rebecca." Tea eyed the board, all set up, and then her jacket hanging by the door.

"Oh, come on. It won't be that bad."

"I might even settle for Vivian."

"It is _definitely_ not going to be that bad."

"I say we give it ten minutes. After that, we play some of those new games. Is everyone alright with that?" Yugi reached out and poked the triangle resting innocently amid the sea of letters, much to Joey's horror.

"Yugi! You don't know what that thing will do!" He exclaimed as he yanked his friend back.

"Ten minutes isn't much, but I'll settle for that if you all really don't want to do this." Tristan conceded.

Gradually, everyone but Joey nodded in reluctant affirmation. "…Ten minutes. That's it. And if someone suddenly jumps out of the wall with a machete, I'm outta here."

Yyyyy

"Is there someone here?" Tristan asked, hands on a small part of the triangle. Yami, Tea, and Yugi had also claimed spots around the board and were holding onto the triangle as well. Joey had decided to watch from the couch, and that was a lot for him.

The triangle didn't move, so Tristan tried again. "Can you tell us your name?" He was just reading from a list that came with the board, but he still received a glare from the former spirit. "Ehh, next question. Can you let us know you're here?"

The floorboards gave a sudden creak upstairs.

"W-what was that?!" Joey whispered, dropping off the couch to huddle behind them.

"Um, probably just the house settling. This _is_ an old building, after all." Yugi tried to brush it off.

They waited another minute, but no other sound came, so they continued. "Can you tell us how you died?"

 _"Mmph!"_ Another sound came from upstairs, followed by more creaking floorboards. This time, though, they didn't stop. In fact, they appeared to be heading towards the stairs.

"Uhh, Tristan? Didn't your brother use to say something about _why_ he stuffed this thing in the attic?" Joey whispered frantically.

"Yeah, I'm suddenly remembering that."

"Remembering _what_ , exactly?" Yami demanded, tone hushed.

"He tried this with my sister and all the pictures suddenly got knocked off the walls. I always thought he was just trying to scare me."

The top stair groaned as the footsteps reached it. Yugi shrank back and clutched the hand closest to his; Joey's. The instant Joey felt the contact, he seemed to snap out of his frozen terror. In one swift motion, he hefted the small duelist and took off for the nearest exit. Tristan, his partner in crime for years, was right on his tail with Tea's hand clutched in his. Yami was directly behind them.

The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs and a figure emerged into the light of the moon shining through the kitchen window. Short, thick, and grey, it surveyed the mess in the living room and shook it's head in mild exasperation before walking over to the sink for a glass of water.

"I've got to talk to those kids about cleaning up after themselves." Grandpa placed the now empty glass in the sink and returned upstairs to his bed. Stretching his arms over his head one last time, he attempted to rid himself of the kink in his back, grunting as he did so.

Downstairs, the Ouija board lay abandoned on the table. Or rather, somewhat abandoned. The triangle began to move, so slowly at first that most would assume they had imagined it.

 _Hello_

Yyyyy

Rule 45: Ouija boards are hereby banned.

Yyyyy

Requested by rubygees

I hope you all enjoyed! I've been in a bit of a Halloween mood lately, (though it's still months away -.-;). As always, please review and tell me your thoughts! I love reading each and every one I get! :3


	46. Theme Songs

Grandpa's old hand ran softly along the polished wood surface, clearing a streak of dust in its wake. It had been years since he'd last seen it, but it was still as beautiful as the day he'd won it for his new bride in a tourist trap in Hawaii. It had been stashed away in an old box in the attic, one of many, for years. Smiling softly, he sat on a random box, hoping it didn't contain any breakable treasures from his past, and began polishing and tuning it, surrounded by silence and piles of the miles, real and metaphorical, he had gathered in his long life. The old thing needed to go for a spin; he could feel it in his fingers as they danced with practiced delicacy over the strings and wood. He wondered with a growing grin just how much he remembered.

Yyyyy

Yugi frowned and narrowed his eyes at his opponent. Joey had improved greatly and was now in the process of backing Yugi into the corner. The duel field was the coffee table, and Joey was seated on the floor while Yugi was on the couch, elbows firmly planted on his knees, lip firmly trapped between his teeth.

"…And then I place a card face down, just in case you get any ideas of attacking me." Joey grinned lopsidedly. Confidence was as strong in him as ever, but nowadays he was much more able to back it up.

Yugi looked at his cards for another moment; even though he already knew by heart exactly which ones were in his hand. He was trailing his friend by eighteen hundred points. That wasn't to say he was losing, though. So long as he didn't smile and let Joey know he was up to something, this win would be another tally on his side of the board.

"I'll summon out-," he broke off as the iconic twang, signaling an old west standoff, rang out through the living room. Grandpa's phone was seated just inside the doorway, playing the tune. A moment later, the elder stepped around the corner, plucking the strings of an old ukulele alongside the music.

"Keep playing, boys. I'll just handle the background music."

"Grandpa, what exactly are you doing?" Yugi lowered his hand, tilting it slightly towards himself so that Joey couldn't see what he was holding.

"I saw my neighbor do something like this before. His nephew called it 'being off his meds'." Joey made air quotes with his fingers and shot Grandpa a teasing look, still feeling giddy about having the King of Games on the ropes.

Grandpa lowered the ukulele and his eyebrows, glaring at the Wheeler boy. The phone continued its solo awkwardly. "Hmph. _Some_ people know how to respect their elders."

Yyyyy

"Really? I thought he was adjusting well to life over here." Yami flipped over a spell card and held it up to the camera so Casey could see what he had activated. "This means your monster can't attack and loses five hundred attack points."

"Shoot." Casey furrowed her brow and focused on her deck. "I draw!"

The video chat had started out as just a conversation. Just catching up on things that had been happening over the past week. Then Casey had noticed her Japanese-Egyptian friend absently shuffling his deck and the topic had switched to her lack of knowledge of game play, despite owning a deck herself. Thus, a friendly practice game to test her skill level and gauge where improvement was needed.

"And I think Mitch is just a little homesick, you know? I place Atlantean Pikeman on the field and activate…" She quickly peeked under each facedown card to see what she had put down. "Never mind. Wrong time. I end my turn."

"And now I have an idea of what is on your field. Be careful about that." Yami drew and played an easy trap for her. She had to learn to anticipate what might be hiding under opponents' traps and spells. "Maybe you should come visit him sometime. Just a surprise drop-in. I know when I first moved to Japan, all I wanted was to see someone from back home again." He was careful to leave out the fact that 'back home' meant more than just Egypt.

"But you have family with you now. Mitch is living alone." She pointed out, drawing a card. "You do have a point, though. I'll give you that."

"And while you're here, you can come get your stuffed tiger. Joey found it the other day and won't stop laughing at me." Yami waited for her to call an attack so he could activate his trap, but she instead hesitated, reached for a card on her field, and flipped it up. His trap was destroyed and the attack lost him his first two hundred points of the game. She grinned widely and pumped her fist in the air in victory.

" _Yes!_ And it's Tora, by the way. I named her Tora."

"Tora, stuffed tiger, what difference does it make?" He teased. "It's here with me. I can call it whatever I want."

That was when a romantic melody drifted through the door, across the room, and into the speakers broadcasting to a computer in America. Grandpa was leaning against Yugi's door across the hall, strumming the strings of a small instrument he hadn't seen before. It appeared to be a slow dance melody.

Yami stood, crossed the room, and shut the door, muffling the song. "It's a bit of a redundant name, though. You at least have to admit that."

Yyyyy

Rule 46: We do not need ukulele background music in our lives.

Yyyyy

Sooooo. Been a while, huh? Again, sorry this took so long to update, but several things happened and life has been insane. Like, even more than usual. But there is a very special chapter fifty coming up and I want to get there before the year is out!

Thank you for reading and don't forget to review! :3


	47. Magical Leaves

It wasn't an unusual day by any means. Yami, Yugi, Tristan, Joey, Tea and Duke were seated around the living room, hanging out and waiting for Mai and Serenity to arrive. Well, everything _had_ been usual, until Tristan suddenly produced a small plant from his pocket and, trying not to be noticed by anyone, proceeded to hang it from the ceiling.

"What is that?" Yami asked, examining the bright green leaves, with clearly festive ribbons and sparkles adorning them.

Tristan, grinning broadly, announced, "Mistletoe! I was helping re-arrange the house and found it behind the couch."

"So, those are fake leaves then?"

"Yeah. We tend to get a new one every couple of years because we're always losing them."

"Okay." Yami nodded, not sure what the significance was in a clump of three fake leaves. "What's it for?"

"It's a magical plant that makes everyone who stands under it do this-," he reached for Tea, who happened to be the closest to him at the moment, but she smirked and stepped out of his reach.

"Aha. Nice try."

They then heard the store's front door open and two pairs of feet on the stairs leading up to the living area of the building. "Hi, guys." The pretty, petite, angelic figure that was Joey's little sister greeted them happily, while Mai removed her jacket and took a seat on the couch by Yami.

"Hi, Serenity!" Duke went to step past Tristan to properly greet his not-so-secret crush, and time suddenly seemed to move in slow motion.

Maybe her sudden entrance had distracted him. Maybe his mind was still placing Tea as the one next to him. Or maybe it was just an instinctive attempt to keep the popular rich kid from the innocent little flower that was Serenity.

For whatever reason, as soon as Duke was in range, the tall brunette grabbed his jacket and pressed their lips together in a kiss. However, as shock had frozen not just their friends, but the two of them as well, it ended up being awkwardly long.

"Oh, um, hi." Serenity stuttered, not sure what had just happened.

Tristan, being the first to mentally process their position, quickly stepped back and gave the gamer a light shove. The two could do nothing but stare in silent shock at each other for a long while.

The silence was soon broken, though, by hysterical giggles. "Forget Junjou Romantica! You two are the ultimate yaoi pairing." Mai, ignoring the gaping looks shot her direction, stood and draped her arm around Serenity. "Cutie, congratulations. You don't know how many fangirls would kill to be in your place."

"If you'll all excuse me," Duke muttered dazedly, turning away from his friends, "I think I need to . . . exit the room for a moment."

"Me too." Yami replied, standing and heading for the kitchen.

Yyyyy

Rule 47: Mistletoe is dangerous. Be _very_ careful where you hang it.

Yyyyy

Requested by Wingah. Let me know what you thought! (I just love how Mai has no filter sometimes.)


	48. Wish You Were Tall

Seto glared at Joey. Tristan and Joey glared at Duke, who was staring dreamily at Serenity, who was watching, fascinated, as Mai walked her through some of her favorite duel strategies. Tea cleared her throat and all eyes turned to her.

"I assume you all know why you're here?" Joey, Tristan, and Mai, her co-conspirators, nodded.

Serenity raised her hand. "I know I don't really qualify, but Joey wanted me to participate anyway so I don't get targeted."

"I didn't know we were planning anything. Joey just told me we were going to have a little fun." Duke raised his eyebrow, and then turned to look at the group's black sheep. "And what the heck are _you_ doing here?" All eyes turned to Seto Kaiba.

"I received an anonymous letter last night. Something about much needed revenge."

Tea shook her head. Well, despite the methods, everyone had made it. "Close enough."

Tristan stood and walked over to her, brandishing a pencil and paper. "Tall story short, we've got some planning to do."

Yyyyy

Seto allowed himself a rare smile. It had been so long since he had pulled a prank he had forgotten what it felt like. The secrecy, the planning, and the way his heart raced in sudden jumps and spurts when he thought he heard his target arriving early. He'd forgotten it all. It was almost… fun?

"Mister Kaiba, really. Isn't something like this a bit beneath you? Mokuba was one thing, but you're not a child anymore."

"And I don't pay you to tell me what I'm too old for. Hand me that board, please."

Roland heaved a huge sigh, handed over the piece of wood, and then gestured to the newspaper lying beside his employer's leg. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to take a look at the available jobs."

Seto paused and looked up at him. "Are you thinking of quitting?"

"No. But I would like to fantasize."

Yyyyy

" _Ow!_ " Joey stumbled back and clutched his head where he'd been hit. " _Watch_ it, Tristan!"

"You watch it! I can't see where I'm going! Could you stop whining and tell me if I'm going to run into anything else?"

"Yeah! Me, again! Just… stop moving for a minute and let me get out of your way."

It took another ten minutes for the pair to reach the basement and collapse to nurse their cuts and bruises.

"How many more do we have to do?" Tristan shook his hand, hoping to get some feeling back into it.

Joey thought for a moment, then let his head drop in defeat. "The next time we get volunteered because we're the 'strongest', help me remember to run."

Yyyyy

"I can't be the only one who sees his as a bad idea. I mean do we really want to start a prank war with… anyone from this family? Grandpa alone has survived traps and dungeons that have stumped and killed even professionals. _And_ , need I remind you, Yugi and Yami's names translate directly to 'Shadow Game'."

"Duke! Either quit complaining and give me a hand, or leave and let me tell them that this was all your work. And besides, they started this, not us." Tea shifted her position and inadvertently sent up a cloud of dust, causing her to sneeze. "Wow. They really _don't_ use these shelves often, do they?"

Yyyyy

"Aww! This is _adorable_! Why doesn't she ever wear this when she duels on TV?" Serenity paused to hold up a frilly, pink and white dress fit for a princess ball.

Arthur laughed. "She's twelve. It's hard enough for her to be taken seriously as is."

"But she's practically teaching her college classes."

"And she's one of the most formidable duelists on the island." Mai put in.

"That doesn't mean she's not young. People don't usually take her seriously until she's shown them up somehow."

"It's a shame." Serenity frowned and replaced the garment. The three got back to work, just a bit more somber at the realization.

Yyyyy

Rebecca opened the front door, hung up her coat, and headed up to her room. Her grandfather wasn't home yet, so she had the house to herself. Grinning, she allowed herself to plan the night ahead.

First, she'd finish the last chapter in that Cassandra Clare book she'd been reading, then she'd make dinner. Macaroni, maybe? That sounded good. And after that, if her grandfather still wasn't home, she could… reset her entire (censored) room. Was this some kind of sick joke? Or had her grandfather finally gone as crazy as his colleagues had thought he already was?

Everything in her room had been enlarged noticeably. She didn't have a lot of furniture to start out with, but, as it was now, her floor space was surprisingly reduced. After the initial shock wore off, she noticed a note on the now-huge bed. It was written on a piece of paper twice the size as a regular sticky note, and in large lettering. She was starting to feel very much like a midget.

 _Your tea party was fun. Just thought I'd return the favor. –Grandpa_

Rebecca arched an eyebrow in confusion, remembered the day she made the house 'her size', and smiled. Something occurred to her just then, though, and she threw open her closet excitedly to see. Sure enough, Teddy was now as big as a Labrador. Grinning and hugging her bear, she hopped over to her bookshelf. Her night would continue as planned.

Yyyyy

"The blueprints are fine. That's not what I have a problem with." Mokuba spoke into his earpiece while going over the rough design of their company's newest product. "No, I don't have a problem with the graphics, either. What I have a problem with is the material you've chosen to use. It's extremely expensive and- Oof!" He broke off when his foot caught something and he fell forward onto the staircase. Something had happened while he was gone, that he was sure of. "I'll have to call you back." He hung up without waiting for a response.

The stairs had been modified drastically. It was obvious that it had been done in a rush, most likely to ensure he didn't come home to a half-finished product, but the work had his brother's name written all over it. Not literally, of course, but the fact that he had been behind this was obvious. No matter how much of a rush he was in, he was a perfectionist. Boards had been installed to make the steps larger. Now, instead of twelve steps, each six inches high, there were now a series of six raised platforms leading up to the second story.

"Seto! What the heck did you do while I was gone?" He called up to the home office.

"I got talked into taking advantage of my height. What did you do today?"

Yyyyy

Yami and Yugi unlocked the shop door, entered and locked it behind them again. "So Mitch is really looking forward to Casey coming to Japan, it sounds like." Yugi grinned as soon as the door was closed. They had decided to spend their day off at the arcade and ran into the elder brother of Yami's American friend.

"She's not going to be here for a while, but he's already setting up a room for her."

They walked up to the second story and paused. The door that led from the staircase to the living area of the building was shut. It was usually shut. That wasn't why they had stopped, though. It was the doorknob that was out of place. To be more precise, it was three feet higher than where it was supposed to be.

"I don't want to know what happened while we were gone." Yugi groaned.

Yami reached up and turned the knob, opening the door. "We're going to find out eventually."

"And why cant we just wait for Grandpa to call and tell us?" The shorter teen hung back while his brother entered the living room.

"Great idea. Leave our elderly grandfather to stumble into whatever is in here."

Yugi hesitated a moment longer, but eventually followed Yami in. Their living room, kitchen, bedrooms, even the bathroom and closet had been rearranged. There wasn't a single item on any shelf that was lower than four feet.

"We need more short friends, don't we?" Yami said bemusedly.

Yyyyy

Rule 48: If short people can't prank tall people, tall people can't prank us. (Ankle biters can still draw blood, and the deadliest animal is still the mosquito. If this happens again, we won't hold anything back. –Yugi)

Yyyyy

I know I haven't replied to any of your reviews and I am so sorry, but internet connection at my place has been insane. I will have everything sorted out soon though, (hopefully) and be able to properly reply.

Thank you all so so much for hanging with this story for 48 chapters! Please review and let me know what you thought! Also, I just saw Dark Side Of Dimensions and I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed like pretty solid Prideshipping. :3


	49. What Comes After 29?

"So… years after I died, there was a man who performed miracles and walked on water who claimed he was the Son of God, not the Gods, and was tortured and killed. But then he came back to life. And we celebrate this occasion by eating chocolate and hunting for colorful eggs left to us by a rabbit who is really Grandpa."

"Pretty much, kinda, not really, but… yeah. That about sums it up." Joey rambled, not realizing his explanation would lead to so much confusion. He should have expected it, though.

Yugi walked up and handed over a woven basket filled with green strips of paper. "Because it's pouring out, we're having the egg hunt inside. All you need to know is to be careful not to break the eggs, and whoever finds the most wins."

"The ceremonies we had back in _my_ time made so much more sense." Yami grumbled, head still spinning trying to sort everything out.

"Like the running of the Apis Bull? Or shaving your eyebrows as a sign of mourning? Or mummifying cats? Or-,"

"I get it. I get it. We had strange ceremonies, too." Yami laughed and Joey grabbed a basket.

Four hours, a broken stool, and a barely prevented brawl (that was entirely justified; Joey had seen that egg first, not Tristan) later, the searchers sat around the living room, tallying up their eggs. Two cartons, each with eighteen eggs had been purchased for the occasion. One had broken on the way into the boiling pot, four had cracked during the boiling, and another had been dropped while they were painting them the night before. That left thirty.

"I found nine." Yami counted.

Yugi finished spreading his out on the carpet and looked up, grinning triumphantly. "I got ten."

"Hmph. You two sure don't play well with others. There were three more participants in this little game, you know." Tristan glared at his two meager eggs, almost hidden beneath the green grass in his basket.

"I know. I was lucky to find my _one_ egg." Tea held it up with the hand that wasn't currently supporting her chin. Her elbow was propped up on her knee, while her empty basket swung slightly from the arm holding the egg.

"Joey? How many do you have-," Yugi trailed off when he realized that Joey was no longer counting eggs. He was eating them. "Or … how many did you find?"

Joey paused, his mouth full of hardboiled, and slightly stained, egg. "We were supposed to be counting?"

Yyyyy

"Hello? This is Yugi." Yugi answered his phone. Tristan glanced up at him from where he was sprawled on the floor using Sachi as a pillow. The dog didn't react in the slightest.

"Is it the exterminator?" Yami questioned from the doorway. The two had temporarily moved in with their friend while Grandpa had been practically dragged away by Arthur. A few days ago, a strange smell had begun wafting through their house and had only gotten worse to the point that customers had started to comment. Unable to find the source, and eventually unable to stand the smell any longer, they hired a professional to find what must have been a dead… something in the walls.

"I still say this was Bakura again. That guy's bound to get bored eventually." Tristan went back to his book, some war novel or other Yami couldn't follow, and Yugi listened to the caller with an ever-growing look of embarrassment and disappointment on his face.

"Thank you, sir. I'm so sorry to have wasted your time-, what was that, sir? … You don't say… Well, thank you. That does make me feel a bit better. Have a great day."

"What did he find?"

Yugi didn't respond. He just sat down, buried his face in his hands, and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yugi?"

"Yugi, man, come on. What did he find? One of you hiding a collection of women's underwear or something?" Tristan bookmarked his spot and sat up. Sachi snorted and rolled over into him in protest of losing her blanket.

"He found an Easter egg. It was hidden in the vacuum, which is probably why we didn't find it. He said that this time of year, a lot of their calls end up involving lost eggs."

"I guess we should have paid more attention to how many Joey actually ate."

"Next year, we're hiding plastic eggs." Yugi pocketed his cell phone and stood up.

"Great idea. This holiday wasn't hard enough or me to understand. Let's complicate it more." Yami shook his head in anticipation of the next holiday.

"You were the one who wanted to be informed of upcoming holidays." Tristan rifled through his book until he found where he'd left off and continued. "I'll just be glad to get my place back to myself. It's no fun competing for remore privileges against you two."

Yyyyy

Rule 49: The saying goes that we must not count our eggs until they've hatched. Whomever said this has never had one rotting in his house. Always count your eggs. Or else.

UP NEXT IS THE SUPER SPECIAL CHAPTER 50! (Not wanting to give anything specific away, but if any of you have a prank you want to see, please send it to me. I plan to have this up by the end of the month at the latest.)

Please tell me what you thought of this! And, yes. I'm aware that this is the wrong season for this holiday, but my magical author powers cancel out your meager mortal logic.

Requested by rubygees.


	50. CHAPTER FIFTY

Everyone woke up that morning with the sense that something was different. Maybe it was something in the air, but the weather predicted the same exact thing it had for the past week. A foreboding feeling hung over the city, and no one could shake it, or escape from it. As far as anyone knew, it wasn't a holiday, nor was any maniac currently on the loose. Maybe it was nothing. Or maybe it was something they would learn they should have seen coming.

Yyyyy

Yugi whistled to himself as he cleaned the house. The store was closed for the day, Grandpa was out, and Yami was… well Yugi was sure he was still in the building somewhere. His brother hadn't said anything about going out, but Yugi hadn't heard anything from him in a while, either. That wasn't too unusual, though, as Yami was a naturally silent person.

Placing the pillows and cushions back on the couch, Yugi gathered up everything he had found under them and headed into the kitchen.

Yami sat at the table, clearly troubled about something. He held a small scrap of paper in his hands, but was staring off into space. It didn't even seem like he had noticed the other's presence in the room.

"Is everything alright?" Yugi asked, beginning to grow concerned when Yami looked at him with an expression he'd never seen before on his face. His eyes were wide, and one eyebrow was higher than the other, like he wasn't sure he should respond. He looked almost… scared.

"… You're real, right?" He asked finally.

"Yeah, why?" Yugi placed everything in his hands on the table and pulled out a chair to sit in front of his brother.

Yami hesitated, visibly contemplating whether or not to tell him. Finally making a decision, he held out the note to Yugi.

 _Yami Motou. Please realize that this life as you know it is a fabrication made up during an experiment on the human mind. You were one of our most valued volunteers until the accident that rendered you trapped within your own mind. While we are astounded by the world you have created for yourself, complete with a family and friends, your real family needs you back. Please wake up. We don't know how this message will reach you, but please don't ignore it._

"Yeah." Yami licked his lips and placed his head in his hand. "So, I found that this morning."

"And now you're questioning reality?" Yugi placed the note on the counter and crossed his arms. Yami nodded mutely, obviously far away. Yugi smiled. And then punched his arm. "Did that feel real enough to you?"

Yyyyy

 _Roses are red, violets are blue, you don't know me, but I'm watching you._

Joey glared at the note in his hand, crumpling it up and shoving it back in his pocket where he'd found it. He didn't know when it had gotten there, but he wasn't amused. Especially after all the psychos they had taken on.

"You haven't seen anyone weird hanging around lately, have you?" He turned to Tristan, who hadn't noticed his discovery of the paper.

"No, why? Did you see someone?" He straightened up and looked around. They were currently at the school, mopping the floors. Everyone else had left for the day, so they were the only ones there at the moment.

"… No. Just keep an eye out."

Yyyyy

"Yami, do you know where my glasses are?" Grandpa called into the storage room as he held a scrap of paper at arms length, trying to read it.

"No, why?" The ex-pharaoh walked out into the shop with an opened box from their latest shipment under his arm. "Do you want me to read that for you?"

"Oh. Yes, please." Solomon didn't want the help, not really, but he couldn't deny he was getting older. Ageing gracefully was about the only sense of dignity he could lay claim to at this point.

"Let me see. ' _If you can't read this, you should probably find your glasses_.' Well. I guess-," He stopped when he noticed the level stare that was starting to burn holes in his head. "Yeah, I'll get back to work."

Yyyyy

"So, who should we do next? Tristan scares easy, but Tea-,"

" _What_ are you two doing?" Yami narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw the scheming pair. Yugi had stopped talking, but had been too surprised to remember to shut his mouth. Casey, or what he could see of her over the computer screen was apparently going with the 'stay still and they won't see you' routine. "I take it that letter this morning was from you?"

"Casey told me what to write. I just did what she told me to do." Yugi pointed to the screen.

All the way in America, the blamed girl dropped her jaw. "Traitor. This was _you're_ idea! You messaged _me_ about it."

" _What_ were you trying to accomplish?" Yami cut them off before the finger pointing could escalate.

Sheepishly, they blushed and avoided eye contact. "I noticed that your rule list was at forty-nine. We thought number fifty should be memorable." Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "We sure had you going, though." He tried to laugh. Yami directed his gaze right at him until he stopped.

"… You didn't give Joey a note, did you? He's been downstairs glaring at every customer we've had since he got here."

"Uh," Casey's eyes grew wide suddenly. "I think I hear Dad calling-,"

"What did you tell him?"

"… I just delivered a message from Mitch's girlfriend. She's a big Joey Wheeler fan and wanted him to know she cheered for him whenever he's on TV. I might have taken a creative liberty or two, though." She grinned sheepishly while Yami sighed and covered his eyes.

"I don't know what to do with you two."

Yyyyy

Rule 50: Yugi and Casey are not to team up. Ever. (And Joey cannot take the law into his own hands. We do _not_ need a security guard. And I don't want to know where you got the uniform.)

Yyyyy

WWWOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! CHAPTER FIFTY!

I'm sorry this took so long! I wanted chapter fifty to be special but nothing I wrote seemed to be good enough! I really hope you liked how it finally turned out, though. Please review! :3


	51. A Cat's Day

Yami turned down the volume on the small, portable, TV set he and Yugi had placed on the counter of the shop for when business got slow. The cop show that had been playing was starting to get a bit loud, and his guest didn't really appreciate the constant grunts and gunfire needed to take in the current bad guys.

"So," Yugi descended the steps from their living area with a tray of tea and snacks in his hands. "How's babysitting going?"

"He started crying as soon as Casey left and I'm fairly certain he's pretending to be hungry so he can have something to do that involves ignoring me."

"Have you tried playing with him?" Yugi took his cup of tea and blew on it.

"Yes. I think he blames me for Casey not being able to take him with." Yami frowned. He and Mouser usually got along very well, but today was different. Casey had arrived in Japan with Mouser, hoping to surprise her brother with their pet only to discover that the apartment he was renting had a strict 'No Pets' policy. With little other option, she had been forced to leave him with Yami until it was time for her to return to America.

At that moment, the bell above the door jangled and in walked a woman with her young daughter. Mouser perked up immediately and hopped down off the counter, running right up to the pair.

"Hi, do you happen to carry board games? We're looking -, Oh!" She broke off when the cat began rubbing back and forth on her legs. "Oh, my. How cute!"

"Kitty!" The young girl squealed, reaching out and running her hands through the black and white fur. "Soft kitty."

"Mouser!" Yami scolded, picking up the cat. "Leave them alone. I'm sorry. And yes, we carry board games. We just moved them over there, by the figurines."

"Alright. Thank you." The lady waved at Mouser and led her daughter over to the shelf. "You should consider making him your official greeter! I'd have to come by every day if you did."

Yami and Yugi both stared at Mouser. He was good around people, adorable, and not prone to wandering. "Why not give it a try?" Yugi asked.

Yyyyy

Two hours later, they had a crowd in their lobby that was so big their grandfather was almost in tears. Tea had managed to find a greeting vest at a pet store that fit Mouser (though they weren't about to tell him it had been designed for a very small dog), and Joey and Tristan had been called in to help. The cat now even had his own window perch so people on the streets could see him.

"Are you sure he's alright with this many people?" Tea asked, bagging a young man's stack of puzzles.

"He was raised in a warehouse with a lot of loud noises going on all day. He loves people and had not yet tried to wander off from anywhere. If he starts getting overwhelmed, I'll take him upstairs." Yami assured. Mouser had taken a break from greeting people to sit in the window and be petted. Suddenly, though he stopped purring and stood up on his hind legs, pawing frantically at the window.

"Maoo!"

"Mouser?" Yami made his way over to him and followed his line of sight. Casey and Mitch were on the sidewalk trying to figure out how to enter the small, overcrowded store.

As soon as she saw Yami, Casey waved and then flashed him a confused look and pointed to the vest. Yami picked Mouser up and made his way over to the door and out to the sidewalk.

"Meet Kame Game's new official greeter." Yami grinned and showed off the cat.

"I brought him for vacation and you out him to work?" Casey laughed. "Is he actually doing anything? Or are you just calling him that because he fits the vest?"

"He's the reason we're this busy. People love him."

"I can see why. He's adorable." Mitch reached out to pet him.

"Maaooooo!" Mouser leaned into the hand, loving the attention. His green vest shone brightly in the sunlight and his black patches glistened.

"I'll admit that cute as heck, but I still think something needs to be said." Casey grinned, lifting the cat out of Yami's arms for a hug.

Yyyyy

Rule 51: Guests should not be put to work. Regardless of how cute you make them.

Yyyyy

Requested by- .902

And chapter 51 is finally up! Thank you everyone for sticking with me for this long! I still can't believe that this story has made it this far! Back when I started, I decided to aim for twenty chapters as a means to push myself. That being said, please don't forget to review! :3


	52. Cookies

Yugi watched with amusement as Yami scowled, trying to figure out the recipe. The lesson in that day had revolved around the fact that the teacher's son had just moved back home after setting fire to most of his apartment trying to bake a frozen pizza. After almost an hour of being ranted to about how ignorant and dependent his generation had become, Yami had arrived home determined to prove that, at the very least, he could make it on his own.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" Yugi asked. Yami would never admit it, but the Japanese written language still gave him trouble from time to time.

"No, thanks. I've got this. If you want to do something, though, you can mix the flour with the other dry ingredients. Just go slow so you don't splash it out of the bowl." Yami handed over the dry ingredients and turned the cook book so that Yugi could read the amounts he had to put in. He then went back to trying to figure out the differences between the liquid measurements he was supposed to be adding.

Yugi made sure to distract him as little as possible, only asking for him to pass a measuring spoon that was out of his reach on occasion. By the time Yugi had added everything he was supposed to and begun mixing, Yami had melted the butter and mixed it with the vanilla and sugar. He was now attempting to add the egg to the mixing bowl.

As Yugi continued stirring his ingredients absently, Yami picked up an egg, eyed the thin edge of the mixing bowl, and tapped it against the side gently. Too gently, apparently, as it didn't crack. Yugi stifled a giggle and pretended to really be focusing on mixing. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he tried again, this time breaking off a large chunk of shell into the bowl. The egg quickly followed it, and Yami had to scramble for a fork to try and fish it out. Yugi glanced up. His bowl was already fully mixed, but he needed something to do to make it look like he wasn't paying attention to his brother's misfortune.

"I…" Yami scowled as he lifted the eggshell from the bowl and dropped it and the fork into the sink as unceremoniously as possible. "I can't believe this is giving me so much trouble. I used to rule an entire kingdom. I am one of the youngest rulers in all of history," he grabbed a new fork and began gently sifting through the batter, making sure there were no more eggshells. "I've traveled to foreign lands, navigated underground mazes, defeated dueling champions from all over the world, _trained time travelers_ , completely integrated into a country and time that I was neither born nor raised in-, Yugi, what are you doing?" Yami broke off when he realized that Yugi was no longer paying him any attention.

Yugi looked up at him and grinned widely, showing off his creation. "It's a Flour Castle!" Sure enough, in the middle of the mixing bowl, was a castle made out of the rest of the ingredients Yami as planning to use in his cookies.

"Yugi… _why_ did you make a flour castle?"

"Because I felt like it. And before you say it, no I am not proving your teacher's point." Yugi went back to work on his castle, gently using a fork to scrape portions away. "I've been in class with her son since grade school. He used to brag that he could get his mother to do his homework for him all the time, just by pretending that he didn't understand the material, or that the teacher never taught the class how to actually solve the problems he'd been sent home with. She is under the impression that her son is among the more talented of his generation, so if he can't figure out how to microwave a pizza, the rest of us must be helpless."

"So why the flour castle?" Yami repeated, slightly amused now.

"I may be a bit childish from time to time, but that doesn't mean that I am either ignorant, or helpless. I was raised by my grandfather, who had to split his time between me, the store, and his career as an archeologist that routinely took him out of the country. I know I can look after myself, and I don't need to prove it to anyone. You used to rule an entire country, and you've made more personal sacrifices than most people have in their lives. Don't let her bother you. You're going to hear that same speech whenever her son messes up. You'll get used to it."

Yami surveyed the mess he had made in the kitchen and chuckled. He suddenly felt very silly. "I don't suppose we can still make cookies?"

Yugi grinned and ran the fork through his flour castle. "You bet."

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Rule 52: Cookies should never be made out of spite or to prove a point.

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Merry Almost Christmas / Happy Holidays! I hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you thought!


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